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WINTER 



IN 



FLORIDA; 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOIL, CLIMATE, AND PRODUCTS OF OUR 
SEMI-TROPICAL STATE ; WITH SKETCHES OF THE PRIN- 
CIPAL TOWNS AND CITIES IN EASTERN FLORIDA. 



TO ■WHICH IS ADDED 



A BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY; 



TOGETHER WITH 



HINTS TO THE TOURIST, INVALID, AND SPORTSMAN. 
By LEDYARD BILL. 

ILLUSTKATED. 



SECOT^D EDITIOHSr. 



NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY WOOD & HOLBROOK, 

13 &, 15 Laight Street. 

1869. 



^^-'O-fe^j ^ 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S69, by 

LEDYARD BILL, 

In tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Southern District of New York. 



^3 



Boston : 
Rand, Avery, & Frye, Stereotypers and Printers, 

No. 3, CORNHILL. 






JhIS yOLUME 
IS CORDIALLY JNSCRIBF.D 

TO 

e. 3L. f ., 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE, 



The tour of which this volume is the 
record was an unforeseen one, the sudden 
illness of a friend having been the occasion 
of our visit to Florida. 

Diligent inquiry brought to light no 
work on the State, whereby we might be 
guided. Beyond several historical summa- 
ries, given the public a quarter of a century 
since, there was absolutely nothing worthy 
of mention ; and even these were valueless 
except to the historical student, anxious 
only to know its colonial history and 
status up to the period of its acquisition 



6 PREFACE. 

by the United States. To in some measure 
supply this deficiency has been the object 
of our labors. 

Florida is the oldest settled portion of 
the Union, notwithstanding which it is the 
most of a wilderness. Especially is this true 
of the eastern half, which w^as the portion 
visited by us, and to which we have in the 
main confined ourselves. 

The history of the State is renowned, 
from its first settlement to its annexation, 
for its many battles and conquests, in which 
the victors of to-day were among the van- 
quished on the morrow ; and thus its mas- 
ters alternated for centuries, leaving little 
else behind them than vestiges of their 
occupation. But, since our Government has 
held possession, much has been accomplished 
in material prosperity and in increase of 
population : still, three-fourths of the land 



PREFACE. 7 

is apparently as wild and unoccupied as 
ever. 

Within, however, the past few years, 
Florida has attracted considerable attention 
as a winter resort for invalids and pleasure- 
seekers. It is, practically, the only strip 
of tropical land within our boundaries, and 
the only State where the invalid can find 
an equable and mild temperature through 
the greater portion of the year. Visitors 
to the State are already numbered by 
thousands, and each year since the war 
has witnessed a rapid increase. 

The St. John's, whose source is in the 
everglades of central and southern Florida, 
running due north for two hundred miles, 
then abruptly turning eastward to the ocean, 
is in many respects the most remarkable 
river in North America. To the sportsman 
it presents opportunities such as no other 



8 PREFACE. 

offers^ while the pleasure-seeker is amply 
repaid in viewing its unusual beauties. 

The capabilities of the State in an agri- 
cultural point of view are unbounded. 
The growth of coffeCj cotton, and cane, as 
also indigo, and not unlikely tea, together 
with the production of wine, is likely to 
form an important chapter in her future 
history ; but the thing above all others in 
which Florida is certainly destined to excel 
her sister States is in early fruit-growing and 
marketing. The climate is favorable for 
most of the tropical fruits, as also for those 
grown in more northern latitudes. The soil, 
too, is admirably adapted to their rapid and 
early maturity. Already a large share of 
attention is given this department of agri- 
culture, both from the native and immigrant 
population ; and we hear, that, in the matter 
of oranges alone, over half a million trees 



PREFACE. 9 

have been set out along the St. John's 
and its tributaries within the last twelve 
months. 

There are many advantages to any 
people who have more than a single inter- 
est in which to enlist their energies. Hither- 
to the South has had but one great crop, 
and that was cotton. It was profitable to 
the large planter ; and its tendencies were 
a concentration of wealth and the elevation 
of the few : whereas a diversified industry 
among a people not only makes them more 
independent, but greater enlightenment 
follows. There is no country on the globe 
where this is so remarkably exemplified as 
in " sterile " New England. The wdiole 
Southern country to-day needs, more than 
all things else, a broader culture both in the 
field and in the school. This accomplished, 
together with an entire revolution of her 



10 PEEFACE. 

old-time intolerance and exclusiveness, and 
her road to independence and importance 
will be found both broad and easy. 

June 30, 1869. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

WHAT TO EXPECT, AND IIOW TO GO. 

PAGE. 

The Mania for Travel. — Contrast in the Modes of Living. — 
The South behind the Age. — Absence of Home Comforts. 
— Florida a Wilderness.— Luxuries from the North.— How 
to go to Florida. —The Best Routes. — Benefits of a Sea- 
Voyage 1« 

CHAPTER n. 

DISCOVERY OF FLOEIDA. 

Sebastian Cabot first discovers Florida in 1497. — Columbus dis- 
covers South America in 1498. — De Leon's Expedition in 
search of the Fountain of Youth. — He gives Florida its 
Name. — Hostihty of the Indians. — De Leon mortally 
wounded. — The Expeditions of Narvaez and De Soto.— 
Their Battles, Sufferings, and Marches.— The Discovery of 
the Mississippi. — Death of De Soto. — Eariy Boundaries of 

Florida 26 

11 



12 CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER III. 

EARLY HISTORY OF FLORIDA. 

The First Protestant Colony in America. — Enmity of the Span- 
iards. — Their Cruelty and Barbarism. — The Fomiding of 
St. Augustine by IMenendez in 1565. — The Death of Ri- 
bault avenged by De Gourgues. — Capture of St. Augustine. 
— Drake's Expedition. — Interior Settlements of the Span- 
iards. — Trial of an Indian Chief for Treason. — Gov. Moore's 
and Oglethorpe's Attack on St. Augustine.— Florida ceded 
in 1763 to Great Britain, and re-ceded in 1783 to Spain. — 
Border Troubles. — Annexation of Florida to the States by 
Treaty in 1821 38 



CHAPTER IV. 

MISCELI^VNEOUS TOPICS. 

Braveiy of the Indians. — Their Peculiar IModes of Warfare. — 
Duplicity taught them by Europeans. — Injustice then and 
now. — Gen. Jackson's Views of Duty. — Personal Appear- 
ance of Coa-cou-chee. — His Capture, Confinement, and 
Dream. — His Removal West with the Remnants of his 
Tribe. — An Affecting Scene. — The Present Boundaries of 
Florida. — Its Geological Formation and Probable Age. — 
The Antiquity of the Race. — East and West Florida. . 56 

CHAPTER V. 

UP THE ST. JOHN'S TO JACKSONVILLE. 

The Harbor of Fernandiua. — Entering the St. John's Rivei*. — 
Appearance and Impressions given of the Country. — The 
St. John's River contrasted. — Its Pec uliari ties?. — Jackson- 



CONTENTS. 13 

PAGE. 

ville, its Railroads and Hotels. — Its Rapid Growth, and 
Large Commerce. — Its Suburban Residences. — The St. 
James Hotel. — The Lumber Trade. — Mail and Telegraph 
Facilities 



n 



CHAPTER VL 

FROM JACKSONVILLE TO GREEN-COVE SPRINGS. 

Attractions of the Lower St. John's. — Its Great Width. — The 
Passengers, their Hopes, and Prospects. — Mandarin, the 
Winter Residence of Mrs. Stowe. — Ancient Landmarks. — 
liibernia and Magnolia Point.- Green-Cove Springs. — Its 
Attractions for Invalids. — Capt. Henderson and his North- 
ern Friends. — Black Creek and Alligators. — An Adventure. 
— Ride to Middleburg 87 



CHAPTER VII. 

CENTRAL FLORIDA. 

From Green-Cove Springs to Picolata. — Appearance of Pico- 
lata. — The Steamer " Darlington." — Capt. Brock and " Ad- 
miral" Rose. — Palatka, its Commerce and Importance.— 
Climate. — An Orange-Grove.— Dunn's Lake. — The Ock- 
lawaha River. — Beauties of the Upper St. John's. — The 
Mocking' Bird 105 



CHAPTER VHI. 

THE UPPER ST. JOHN'S. 

Lake Monroe. — Old Fort Mellon. — The Back Country. — En- 
terprise. — Vv' hat we thonght of it, and what we found it.— 



14 CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Its Fine Hotel. — Abundauce of Game. — A I'ish Story. — 
Enterprise the Place for Sporting-Men. — Lakes Jessup and 
Harne}^ — Capt. Brock's Hotel and Orange-Grove. — The 
Two Enterprises. — Indian-Elver Countiy. — Tropical Fruits. 
— Climate at Entei^rise 123 



CHAPTER IX. 

CELEBRATED SPKINGS. 

The Green Spring at Old Enterprise. — Its Great Depth. — Tropi- 
cal Scenes. — The ToAvering Palm. — Silver Springs on the 
Ocklawaha. — The Blue Spring near Lake Berresford. — 
Bartram's Account of this Spring. — The Spring at Green 
Cove 133 



CHAPTER X. 

ALLIGATOE-SnOOTIXG ON THE UPPER ST. JOHN'S. 

The Steamer "Ilattie.'' — Sportsmen on Lake Harney and be- 
yond. — What they bagged. — The Grandfather of all the 
Alligators. — Difficulty of killing them. — Their Display of 
Gymnastics. — The Party camp for the Night. — A Thrill- 
ing Scene. — Our "John." — A Wild Night of it. — The 
Morning Alligator Reveille. — Reflections . . . .142 

CHAPTER XL 

ST. AUGUSTINE. 

How to get there. — The Way we went, — The Hon. Mrs. Yelver- 
ton. — A Successful Experiment. — "Duroc" and " Fire- 
Flv." — The Stage-Driver. — The Ferrvman's Fire. — Across 



CONTENTS. 15 

PAGE. 

the St. Sebastian River. — Midnight and St. Augustine. — 
The Floridii House. — Quaint Appearance of the City. — 
The Coquina Eock. — Fort Marion. — The Cathedral and 

Plaza. -;- The Minorcans. — Tropical Fruits A Hotel 

wanted 150 

CHAPTER Xn. 

THE CLIMATE. 

Influx of Visitors. — Who ai-e benefited. — Necessity of Recrea- 
tion. — Cool Nights. — Thermometer ranges. — Earliest Frosts. 

— Steadiness of Climate. — The Trade- Winds.— The Time 
to visit Florida. — Statistics. — General Health of the People. 

— Care to be exercised 173 

CHAPTER XUI. 

THE SOIL. 

First Impressions. — Varieties of Soil. — Cane, Cotton, and Corn. 

— Adaptability of the Soil for Early Vegetables. — The Cul- 
ture of Rice, Coffee, and Tea, considered. — The Chinese. — 
A Prediction. — Good News to all Housekeepers. — A Cali- 
fornia Senator. — His Triangular Position .... 188 

CHAPTER XIV. 

FRUITS. 

The Orange. — Its Cultivation. — The Several Varieties. — A 
Roasted "Bitter-Sweet."— The Wild Orange a Native of 
Florida.— The Frost of 1835.— The Orange a Prolific Bearer. 

— Peculiarities of the Orange. — Scarcity of Orange-Groves. 
— Where the largest mav bo seen. — The Lemon and Lime. — 



16 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The Grape indigenous. — Tlie Scuppernong. — Florida as a 
Wine-growing Country. — Peach-Culture. — Figs and Pome- 
granates flourish 195 



CHAPTER XV. 

HIXTS TO IMMIGRANTS. — THE SOCIAL CONDITION. 

Value of Lands. — The Florida Land Company. — The Fernan- 
dina and Cedar Keys Railroad. — Inducements to Settlers. 
— What Immigrants should do. — Cost of clearing Lands. — 
Colonies along the St. John's. — Negro Labor. — The Reason 
of Idleness. — The Poor Basket-maker. — His Trials, Suffer- 
ings, and Fears. — The Social Condition of the South. — An 
Un-reconstructed Carolinian. — Spirit of the People. — Their 
Necessities and Prospects 212 



A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 



INTEODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

WHAT TO EXPECTj AND HOW TO GO. 

The Mania for Travel. — Conti-ast iu the Modes of Livhig. — The 
South behind the Age. — Absence of Home Comforts. — Florida 
a Wilderness. — Luxuries from the North. — How to go to Florida. 
— The Best Routes. — Benefits of a Sea- Voyage. 

The visitor to Florida is likely to be disappointed 
in many respects. The exchange of the comforts 
of a home for a temporary residence in any remote 
portion of our country is always effected at a sac- 
rifice ; and those who undertake journeys, whether 
for pleasure or health, have to learn the lesson of 
circumscribing their wants, and, not unlikely, 
many of their necessities. How many of our 
fashionable people feel it imperative to arrange 
some excursion by rail and river in midsummer to 

17 



18 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

the over-packed liotels, where tliey are bundled 
into the fiftli story, and then' families crammed into 
one or two confined and heated rooms, in exchange 
for their cool and ample apartments at home. No 
complaint is made in these cases, since fashion 
dictates ; but this weak and amiable dame has as 
yet scarce heard of Florida. If this periodical 
hegiy^a was for the purpose of escaping any ill, then 
it would be tolerable ; but they fly to a thousand 
they have little knowledge of. In this perhaps, 
after all, compensation may be found, since the 
monotony of life is broken ; and, by being divorced 
from abundant and self-satisfying supplies, people 
are better prepared to return to their enjoyment 
with an appreciating relish. 

If, in lieu of this watering-place mania, it were 
the annual custom of the people of the North to 
take their flight with the birds, and leave behind 
them the chilling winds and frosts of winter, for 
sunnier skies, where the wild-flowers and sono;s of 
birds are perennial, then the object could not be 
doubtful, and the advantages so obscure. 

There is in humanity an innate desire to follow 
the retreatino; sun, and live beneath shadowinf]^ 
trees, and slake the thirst from the cool waters of 



CONTRAST IN LIVING. 19 

unfrozen streams ; but the laws of iabor and of our 
civilization are such as to make it impossible but 
for the few to avail themselves of these privileges. 

The deprivations attending a journey into any 
sparsely-settled State are seldom considered. 
The prospective pleasures are alluring, while the 
realities are unknown. In nearly all southern 
countries, whether in the New or Old World, there 
is a great dearth of what northern people know as 
" home comforts." Instead of the snug and neat 
dwelling, a plain and often rude structure is seen ; 
but this is, after all, to the advantage of health, 
since it gives ample ventilation, and in all warm 
countries this is a very great desideratum. It is 
doubtful if the inhabitants of a tropical country 
would survive a single generation in our air-tight 
dwellings. But the contrast to the visitor is 
naturally great, and is not viewed except with 
some slight alarm. The universal indolence of 
southern populations is proverbial, and is attributed 
to the effects of the enervating climate in which 
they reside, as also to the ease which attends the 
cultivation and growth of such products as are 
necessary to their inexpensive modes of living. 

The South is full a hundred years behind the 



20 A WINTER IN FLOIIIDA. 

North ill many things ; and this is more true when 
speaking of Florida than of the other Southern 
States. It is a sort of a wihl pasture-ground, 
parceled out into great estates, several thousand 
acres each, under the old Spanish grants. Not a 
tenth of the land is yet cleared, while the remain- 
ing portion is but a tangle of swamp and pine- 
forest, interspersed with lakes and rivers. Great 
herds of cattle roam unrestrained over the State, 
being gathered in by the owner perhaps once a 
year, for the purpose of marking the increase, and 
ao;ain turned loose. Durino^ the late war, thou- 
sands of these cattle were slaughtered, both by 
the Union and Rebel forces, and often were the 
only source of supphes. The loss of property 
to the State in this way alone must have amounted 
to several millions of dollars. 

Notwithstanding the quantities of nearly wild 
cattle, there is not, so far as our observation 
went, a single first-class milch cow in all Eastern 
Florida. Why the inhabitants should pay so little 
attention to what would contribute so much to 
their comfort, is a question not answered by them. 
Perhaps, now that the State is being invaded by a 
class of people who will clamor for these ordinary 



HOME COMFORTS WANTED, 21 

comforts, — luxuries, we should say, for good milk 
and butter is more or less a luxury in Florida, — 
the inhabitants may wake up to their necessities. 
Poor milk, and a great scarcity of that, is the 
rule wherever we traveled. 

There are no good pastures at present for cattle : 
the wild grasses and shrubs on which this present 
neat stock subsist would not do for dairy stock ; and 
whether or not the soil and climate are favorable 
to the growth of northern grasses, we cannot say, 
though we see no reason why clover should not 
grow luxuriantly. There is one way, at least, as 
practicable there as anywhere, and that is stall- 
feeding ; but that would be an extravagance and 
a labor unheard of. All the butter used is brought 
from the North, chiefly from the New- York 
market. Beef is also imported, but generally 
from some of the Southern cities with which steam 
communication is had. Florida beef we met with 
occasionally, which was very good, being both 
sweet and tender ; though this does not tally with 
the experience of others who have traveled the 
State. 

Yenison and various kinds of wild game abound, 
too-ether with the finest of fish, that may be had 



22 A WINTER IN FLOEIDA. 

from every river and lake. These, with what of 
luxuries are imported from the North in tlie way 
of butter, canned fruits, and ice, make up a variety 
of fare that should satisfy every appetite, however 
pampered it may be. It was our universal 
experience, whether on the river steamers, or at 
the hotel or boardino-diouse, that the table w^as 
unexceptionable : w^e mean in the traveler's sense 
and view of these things. 

The cost of living in Florida, for a family, 
would be thought much cheaper than in the more 
northern States. This is doubtless true, so far as 
the native population are concerned ; but the 
families from the North who continue their 
previous style would likely find it quite as ex- 
pensive, since many of the articles are procured 
from the same markets as when at home. By and 
by this wall be greatly changed, and to the advan- 
tage of the people of Florida, as well as to those 
who temporarily sojourn there ; as where now little 
beside the wilderness is seen, must in a few years, 
in all probability, be found the prosperous homes 
of a new^ population. 

It is in fact only since the war, that Eastern 
Florida has been truly opened to the North. The 






HOW TO GO. 23 



former system of espionage upon all Nortlierners, // ■'• y 
and their certain ostracism by the chivalry, was 
even more effectual in its results than any Chinese 
Wall could possibly be. 



A brief mention of the various routes by which 
the invalid or tourist may reach the State seems 
desirable. The cheapest method is to embark in 
some sailing-vessel leaving New York, Boston, or 
Philadelphia, direct for Jacksonville. Those who 
go to make the State their home would at least 
do well to ship all their household articles, in this 
way saving very much in transportation, and los- 
ing but very little in time, since the passage does 
not occupy over ten, and frequently is made in five 
days. Once at Jacksonville, direct and rapid com- 
munication is had with all portions of the State. 

Those desiring to avoid a sea-voyage can go to 
Jacksonville by railroad the entire distance, by 
way of Savannah, the cars and sleeping-coaches of 
the South being in most respects equal to those in 
use in any portion of the country. Still another 
route, combining both land and water, is to proceed 



*J4 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

to Charleston by rail, where tri-weekly steamers 
run direct to the St. John's River, and up it to 
Palatka. There are, indeed, two lines of steamers 
from Charleston to Florida, one known as the 
"■inside" and the other as the "outside" line. 
The former follows the bays and inland v/aters 
alono; the coast, touchino; at the small towns and 
landings along the seaboard, and is nearly sheltered 
from the ocean. The latter line goes directly out 
to sea from Charleston, touchins; at Savannah 
and Fernandina onl}^, but making every landing 
on the St. John's as ftir as Palatka. A day in 
Charleston, viewing the " hot-bed," and a sail down 
the bay to old Fort Sumter, where Anderson and 
his brave band stood so nobly, is not lost ; and a 
night at the commodious and well-kept Charleston 
Hotel gives rest and refreshment for the balance 
of the journey. 

But the easiest and most expeditious way is, 
however, by some one of the various steamship lines 
from New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore. They 
average at least one boat per day. We regard these 
lines as in many respects the best means of access 
to Florida, whether for the invalid or excursionist 
The time occupied is less, and the expense is also 



WHEN TO GO. 25 

less ; and they run first-class ocean steamers, with 
every accommodation required. The passage to 
Savannah is usually made inside of three days, 
and direct connection is made with some one of 
the steamship hnes to Florida ; or, if parties choose, 
they can, by taking the cars at Savannah, reach 
Jacksonville in twelve hours, making the entire 
trip from New York in from three to four days. 

The sea-voyage, dreaded by some, is of short 
duration, and in most cases a decided benefit to all, 
and especially the invalid. It is frequently recom- 
mended by physicians to those whose health makes 
it necessary to visit a warmer climate. There 
need be no fear of taking cold, for few people ever 
take cold from any exposure to the open sea-breeze : 
it is, on the contrary, invigorating and healthful. 

We have elsewhere stated with greater particu- 
larity the time visitors to Florida should start. 
October is as early as Northern people need to 
go, and they may remain as late as May. Of 
course we now refer to special classes, who go 
for pleasure, and those seeking a restoration of 
their health. Northern people may and do remain 
the year round, with perhaps as much immunity 
from disease as when at home. 



CHAPTER IL 

DISCOVERT OF FLOEIDA. 

Sebastian Cabot first discovei-s Florida ia 1497. — Columbus discor- 
ers South America in 1498. — De Leon's Expedition in search of 
the Fountain of Youth. — He gives Florida its Name. — Hostility 
of the Indians. — De Leon mortally wounded. — The Expeditions 
of Narvaez and De Soto. — Their Battles, Sufferings, and Marches. 
— The Discovery of the Mississippi. — Death of De Soto. — Early 
Boundaries of Florida. 

Florida was first discovered by that bold and 
early navigator, Sebastian Cabot, who, with his 
father, John Cabot, in 1497, coasted the whole of 
the eastern shore of the peninsula ; and, so far as 
history authenticates, theirs was the first landing 
made by any Europeans on this continent. Every 
child is taught, however, that to Christopher Co- 
lumbus belongs the honor of the discovery of the 
New World, in 1492, five years prior to the land- 
ing of Cabot in Florida ; but his discoveries at that 
time embraced only a portion of the Pahama 
Islands. He did not touch upon the main until 



BE LEON'S EXPEDITIOK. 27 

the year 1498, when he landed at the mouth of 
the Orinoco in South America ; and, even then, 
he did not know that his feet pressed the soil of 
a new hemisphere, but, on the other hand, believed 
that he stood upon the eastern shores of Asia : 
and in this faith he died, not even dreaming of the 
real grandeur of the discovery. Both Columbus 
and Cabot w^ere, however, robbed to a great ex- 
tent of their due share of honor, by a subsequent 
navigator, who was more fortunate in giving a de- 
scription of his voyages, which was published in 
the Old World about the year 1500. 

Little further was known of Florida by any of 
the Europeans until the spring of 1512, when 
Juan Ponce de Leon, an aged Spaniard, sailed 
from Porto Rico in search of a fountain reputed 
to exist among the Bahama Islands, which would 
restore the aged to immortal youth, if they but 
drank of its sparkling waters. Of this romantic 
old man of the sea, all have read in history. That 
he had a poetic frenzy, bordering on extravagance, 
the reader will scarcely question. If he had lived 
in the present age, he would, doubtless, have been 
sent away, by either his heirs-at-law or his darlmg 
children, to contemplate Nature from behind some 



28 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

Gothic window, carefully protected against intru- 
sion from either burglars or Bohemians. 

His career is indeed fascinating in its contem- 
plation ; and to think of him setting sail from old 
Spain, in that early age of navigation, across the 
far-reaching and stormy waters of the Atlantic, 
in his rude vessel, surrounded by a few devoted, 
and, we must presume, unlettered sailors, chal- 
lenges our admiration, and we follow his subse- 
quent career with unabating interest. 

The object of his search was like the mirage in 
the desert to the worn and weary traveller, who is 
beguiled to pursue its ever-retreating cool foun- 
tains and inviting groves, till at last he sinks 
exhausted, yet believing that the object of his 
search lies nearly within his grasp. 

De Leon, after a fruitless visit to the Bahama 
Islands, steered north-west for the coast of the 
continent, and landed at what is now St. Augus- 
tine, still pursuing the object of his industrious 
search. He landed in April, 1512, on Easter 
Sunday, which day the Spaniards call Pascua 
Florida; and, finding the country abounding in 
wild-flowers, he gave it the name of Florida : 
which is, indeed, a very beautiful name for a beau- 



FIEST BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS. 29 

tiful land. He at once arranged for an active 
campaign of discovery for the one absorbing 
object of his ambition. By land, lagoon, and 
river he traveled, suffering hardships and endur- 
ing every thing. Thus he journeyed and coasted 
southward the whole extent of the peninsula, 
even to the Tortugas Islands in the Gulf, whence 
he returned to Spain, disappointed but not entirely 
disheartened ; for, in a few years, we find him 
commissioned by the home authorities as governor 
of Florida, conditioned on his establishing a colony 
in that country. This enterprise he readily under- 
took ; and, gathering a company of emigrants, he 
set sail and effected a landing, but was met by the 
aborigines with frowns and suspicions, which speed- 
ily grew into open and determined hostility, 
resultincr in the killino; and drivino; of the colonists 
from the shores to their ships. From that day, 
now over three hundred and fifty years, one con- 
tinuous battle with the red men of the forest has 
been waged, with brief respites only intervening, 
till they now stand at bay two thousand miles in 
the interior of the continent, cut off, surrounded, 
and hunted like wild beasts, they and their history 
soon to be swept away by the great wave of civi- 



30 A WINTEK IN FLOEIDA. 

lizatlon which has fully set in along the iron road 
across the continent to the ocean beyond. 

In this first conflict with the red men in Florida, 
De Leon was mortally wounded, and soon after 
died in Cuba, whither the expedition had set im- 
mediate sail. Thus did this romantic voyager's 
life abruptly and tragically end. There is scarcely 
in history a character so unique as his. That he 
was a man of influence among the rulers of Spain, 
and was possessed of remarkable parts, can not be 
questioned ; nor the fact of his many amiable 
weaknesses, which seemed to exert a controlling 
influence over him. 

A dozen years later, and the Spanish Govern- 
ment had appointed one Narvaez as ruler over 
this w^ild-flowery land of De Leon's. He sailed 
from Cuba with a force of three hundred men, 
well armed and equipped, to take forcible posses- 
sion, and hold the vast territory which was now 
regarded as so valuable to the Spanish crown. 
His expedition attempted little of colonization, but 
gave their time chiefly to the exploration of the 
interior country. They were beset on all sides in 
their marches, and at last so hunted and harassed 
by the Lidlans, and cut down by sickness, that 



THE AGE OF ADVENTUEE. 31 

only four who survived were able to reach a friend- 
ly settlement, hundreds of miles away in Mexico ; 
and this only after several years of wanderings. 
De Leon's dreams still haunted the minds of ad- 
venturers, changing only in that gold and precious 
gems took the place of his fountain which was to 
impart the gift of perpetual youth. 

In this age of romantic and chivalrous adven- 
ture, of new-found worlds and empires, it is not so 
wonderful, perhaps, that eager knights embraced 
almost any opinion concerning the mysterious 
recesses of lands which now lay open to their view. 
The discovery and conquest of Peru preceded the 
discovery of Florida but a brief period ; and the 
wealth which fell to its captors but added to the en- 
thusiasm that already stirred the breasts of the 
people of Spain. 

Ferdinand de Soto, a principal actor in this 
grand drama, who had returned to Spain loaded 
with fame and wealth, at once resolved on an ex- 
pedition to Florida, and sought permission to con- 
quer and govern the territory, which was granted. 
Kallying around him great numbers of adventurers 
and admirers, he selected from among them about 
a thousand men suited to his purposes, and on 



32 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

the sixth day of April, 1538, set sail in a fleet of 
ten vessels. Arriving at Cuba, where he was 
joined by Porcalho, a distinguished and wealthy 
soldier of fortune, he was obliged to repair and 
re-form. This occupied nearly a year ; and it Avas 
not until the following spring of 1539 that he 
landed on the shores of Tampa Bay, in Florida. 

It was the sincere wish of De Soto to conciliate 
the inhabitants, and open the way to a peaceful 
exploration of the country. In fact, the measures 
he adopted were admirably adapted to that end ; 
but the natives well remembered the cruelty of 
Narvaez, and they regarded the new comers as but 
another band of robbers. 

De Soto sent out couriers to trace, if possible, 
the fragments of the preceding expedition ; but 
this proved fruitless, since they were invariably 
detained, and usually put to death. Finding all 
measures of conciliation unavailing, he resolved 
on conquering the country by force of arms. 
To this, Porcalho dissented, and, unable to effect 
an agreement, sailed away ; and immediately De 
Soto set out on his perilous and disastrous march. 
Had the native population possessed an organized 
body of men, and a seat of government, and pros- 



DE SOTO'S GEE AT CAMPAIGN. 33 

edited hostilities any thing like ordinary mortals, 
they would have been overpowered and speedily 
reduced, and brought under the sway of the disci- 
plined and hardy veterans of Spain ; but De Soto 
struggled against a multitude of fierce, petty 
tribes, who, although offering no point at which an 
effective blow could be struck, never left him mas- 
ter of more than the spot on which, for the mo- 
ment, his army stood. Wherever he advanced, a 
wild shower of poisoned arrows greeted him, or 
else the foe fled before him, leaving but a barren 
waste behind. 

The natives at length prepared a plot for the 
extermination of the invaders, and, professing, 
friendship, advanced suddenly upon them, taking 
them wholly by surprise. The battle wavered 
but for a moment ; when the soldiers, having 
rallied with their arms, poured in a destructive 
fire, which killed great numbers of the enemy, 
and put to flight the remainder, except a few 
who were surrounded. These, on seeing their 
position, plunged into a lagoon, and there floated, 
exposing nothing but their faces above the water. 
In this position they were kept till the following 
day by the determined Spaniards, when they were 



34 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

glad to surrender. They constituted, however, 
but a fragment of the dusky warriors who every- 
Tvhere haunted the unbroken forest. 

Florida was at this time without definite 
boundaries. At the time of De Leon's expedition, 
or soon after, the Spanish Crown claimed authority 
from Cape Sable up as far as Labrador ; but their 
expeditions seldom if ever extended farther up the 
coast than Cape Hatteras, and their pretensions to 
territory above the Carolinas was abandoned ; but 
up to that point they laid strenuous claims. 

Remembering his great good fortune in Peru, 
and still dazzled by the wealth and splendors of 
that conquest, De Soto's thoughts still dwelt on 
some sunny clime in Florida, where temples 
and princely palaces glittered with burnished 
silver and gold, where sparkling gems gave back 
with added brilliancy the slanting sunlight, and 
where the very air was soft and fragrant with 
aromatic and priceless gums and balsams. 

Weary and worn, yet undaunted, this brave 
and o;allant knio-ht of the middle ao;es of chivalric 
and adventurous Spain set his face toward the 
wilderness, an d resumed his perilous marches across 
low lands xnd rivers, through forests and by foes, 



THE SPANIARDS SURPRISED. 35 

back into tlie unknown and heretofore unexplored 
reojions of America. Passino; at first northward, 
lie traversed what is now Georgia, and then, turning 
south and westward, marched to Mauvilla (Mo- 
bile), in what is now Alabama, near which place 
lived the chief of the Choctaw nation, a pow^erful 
tribe inhabitins; that recrion. 

While entertaining him and his follo^vers as 
guests, and amidst the hilarities of the occasion, 
the Indians commenced a fierce attack, compelling 
the Spaniards to fall back to their camp, when, 
mounting their horses, thej advanced and drove 
the Indians, though a cloud of arrov/s, it is narrated, 
darkened the sky. On entering the village, they 
were fired upon from all sides, till they resolved 
to fire the town, which, being constructed of reeds 
and branches, flamed like tinder : many were 
thus destroyed, and a total loss is reported of over 
two thousand Indians, while but eighteen of the 
invaders were killed. This tragedy ended, and 
De Soto learning of the existence of a great river 
westward, he set out once more through a track- 
less region, and this time in search of the " Father 
of Waters." Arriving in the Mississippi Valley, 
he sought the capital of the Chickasaws, and spent 



36 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

here the winter. The treachery of the savages again 
burst upon this devoted band ; again were they 
surprised and slaughtered, losing some lives and 
many horses and all their baggage. They then 
moved forv/ard to the banks of the great river ; and 
for the first time, in the spring of the year 1541, 
the eyes of Europeans rested upon it. 

Here they lingered to construct means of cross- 
ing ; and then, still undaunted, the bravest soldier 
and explorer of any age or country moved on, 
penetrating the Avild regions of the Missouri. 
But to follow and describe all his wanderings 
would require a volume. Three years had worn 
away since he landed at Tampa Bay with his 
brave army, wdiich now had dwindled to one-half 
its original numbers. He determined to reach the 
coast, obtain re-enforcements, and inaugurate a new 
campaign. Descending the Washita and Red 
Rivers to their confluence w^ith the Mississippi, he 
here halted to px^epare for the descent of that 
river, when he was seized by fever, which in a 
few brief days terminated his intrepid career. His 
body w^as secretly and solemnly buried, at mid- 
night, in the bosom of the great river, by a few of 
his chosen companions, with nothing around save 



OEIGINAL BOUND AEIES OF FLORIDA. 37 

the starlight night, the rolHng flood, and the dark, 
impenetrable wilderness. 

His survivors, descending the river, soon reached 
the coast, and returned to their native country, 
having lost two-thirds of their original number. 

We have followed, briefly, the career of this, 
the third governor of Florida, and his most re- 
markable expedition, since it not only concerned 
the territory of Florida itself, but was important 
in other respects. Every step which De Soto 
advanced westward but added to its area. Thus 
we see Florida extended from Cape Sable to Cape 
Hatteras in the north, and westward more than a 
thousand miles, embracing all the country to and 
west of the Mississippi, and south of the Missouri 
Eiver, including all drained by the Red and inter- 
vening rivers to the Rio Grande. 




CHAPTER III. 

EARLY HISTORY OF FLORIDA. 

The First Protestant Colony in America. — Enmity of the Spaniards. 

— Their Cruelty and Barbarism. — The Founding of St. Augus- 
tine by Menendez in 1565. — The Death of Ribault avenged by 
De Gourgues. — Capture of St. Augustine. — Drake's Expedition. 

— Interior Settlements of the Spaniards. — Trial of an Indian 
Chief for Treason. — Gov. Moore's and Oglethorpe's Attack on St. 
Augustine. — Florida ceded in 1763 to Great Britain, and re-ceded 
in 1783 to Spain. — Border Troubles. — Annexation of Florida to 
the States by Treaty m 1821. 

"We have seen how three successive Spanish 
expeditions came and went, and yet Florida held 
no settlement of Europeans. The failure of the 
last, under its great leader, had dampened the 
ardor of that nation ; and at this time the Hugue- 
nots of France, persecuted at home, resolved to 
found a colony in the New World, and imme- 
diately put their project into execution. 

Under the patronage of the French Admiral 
Coligny, a company of these people sailed in 1562, 
under the lead of John Ribault, who. landing at 



BASE ATTACK ON KIBAULT. 89 

Port Royal, took possession of that section in the 
name of King Charles (Carolus) of France, and 
gaye the name of Carolina to the northern por- 
tion of Florida, — a name that still continues, 
divided between two States. In 1564, Ribault 
sailed in charge of another expedition, and landed 
at the mouth of the St. John's, and there estab- 
lished a colony. The news of this expedition, 
reaching Spain, aroused the Spanish people ; and 
the crown at once authorized one Don Pedro 
Menendez to proceed to Florida, being first duly 
appointed governor. He departed with nearly a 
thousand men, direct for the coast of Florida, and, 
landing, estabhshed in 1565 a settlement on the 
present site of St. Augustine.* His objective 
was the French settlement on the St. John's 
River. Ribault was instinctively aware of this, it 
would seem, and made an effort to circumvent 
the Spaniards, which proved abortive. Menendez 
began duly to arrange for an attack on this colony 
at or near the mouth of the St. John's ; and, taking 
seme five hundred of his men, he commenced, 
though not without some protests, his march across 
the country, urging them forward in the name of 

* Williams, the historian, gives 1564 as the date. 



40 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

honor and their relio^Ion. Arrivinor near the 
French settlement, early on the morning of the 
fifth day, and finding the gates of the fort open, 
they rushed in, giving no quarter to the occupants, 
both citizens and soldiers, slaughtering over two 
hundred, and only saving some of the women and 
children, and not even them till their thirst for 
blood had been fully satiated.* A more heartless 
butchery is nowhere to be found in the annals of 
history ; and no people among Europeans, even at 
this early period, save the Spaniards, could have 
committed the awful catalogue of crimes of which 
they were guilty. 

Even in this nineteenth century their passions 
seem as uncontrolled as ever, of which the con- 
flict in Cuba gives ample proof. No country has 
so lono; withstood the influence of the centuries as 
has Spain ; but it is a consolation to contemplate 
the wheels of progress, and to note that the days 
of her priestcraft and old tyrannous system of 
government are passing away, while new Spain is 
robing herself, as we trust, in the beautiful gar- 
ments which Liberty is weaving. 

* A Spaiilsb -writer gives lliia statement of the saving of women and 
children, but the French never believed any were ever spared from the 
sword. 



EIBAT7LT AVENGED. 41 

Tlie infamous Mcnendez, when the work of 
assassmation had ended, suspended from the neigh- 
boring trees a number of the mangled bodies, with 
the following words attached : " Not because they 
are Frenchmen, but because they are heretics and 
enemies of God." 

When the news of this dreadful business reached 
France, it greatly excited the Protestant inhabit- 
ants ; but they were powerless, since their sover- 
eign, Charles IX., did not sympathize with them. 
Roused by grief and rage, the Huguenots eventu- 
ally found a leader in the daring warrior, Donn- 
nique De Gourgues, who had himself suffered 
every indignity during a period of captivity under 
the Spaniards. He clandestinely procured a 
license to engage in the slave-trade, and set sail in 
three ships in the summer of 1567. After sailing 
southward, he announced his determination and 
real intention to his men, which was to attack the 
Spanish settlement at St. Augustine, and avenge 
the slaughter of Kibault and his companions. At 
first, several ships' companies desisted ; but, being 
urged, they consented, and the expedition effected 
a landino;. Before marchino; to the attack, he se- 
cured the co-operation of the natives, who were 



42 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

only too ready to aid in the dislodgment of the 
hated Spaniards. The garrison of the forts were 
apprized of the rapid advance of the enemy, and 
were preparing to receive them, when the assault 
w^as commenced upon an outer fort, or block- 
house, which was speedily carried, as was also the 
next ; but there yet remained the fort proper, 
whose garrison far outnumbered the assailants. 
From this fort a company of soldiers advanced to 
meet the attack of the assailants, but they were 
cut off and destroyed. A panic seized upon the 
remainder of the garrison ; and, abandoning their 
stronghold, they fled precipitately to the woods. 
Numbers of them were captured. These the 
French leader took to the fatal trees where the 
fragmentary remains of his own countrymen still 
hung, and, having reviled them for their cruelty, 
caused a portion of them to be suspended, and, in 
place of the former, substituted the following in- 
scription : " Not because they are Spaniards, but 
because they are traitors, robbers, and murderers." 
Eetribution had been swift and sure. Had none 
but the ringleaders been executed, the world would 
have justified the deed. 

The conquerors, having accomplished the object 



THE OLDEST CITY. 43 

of their visit, set sail for home, and were, hy their 
friends, joyfully received. De Gourgues was sub- 
sequently obliged to retire from his country 
(France) to escape the embarrassments under 
which this expedition had brought him ; his king 
neither daring to imprison nor allow him to remain. 

Thus was the foundation-stone of St. Augustine 
baptized in blood ; and its subsequent history, for 
upwards of two and a half centuries, is one of pro- 
longed slaughter and destruction. No other city 
in America has so often and so severely suffered 
from the ravages of fire and famine, and the gen- 
eral vicissitudes of fortune, as this, the first jQer- 
manent settlement on the contment. 

Menendez, perhaps unfortunately, was not 
among those who perished ; and, after the depart- 
ure of the conquerors, he resumed his rule, and 
continued for twelve years to preside over the des- 
tinies of the town and adjoining settlements or 
trading-posts. In 1578 he returned to Spain, 
having first nominated his successor. Spanish 
ambition in this portion of America had been too 
severely pruned by the sword for any rapid de- 
velopment of power or numbers : yet we find no 
diminution of papal fanaticism ; but, on the other 



44 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

hand, they now gave their attention to the conver- 
sion of the aboriginal inhabitants to their super- 
stitions and fanatical religious faith. Under the 
patronage of the pope of Rome, the king of Spain 
dispatched a large company of teachers, of the 
order of Franciscans, to Florida. Thus, while en- 
larmno; the boundaries of their church, thev soudit 
to obtain peaceful control over the tribes surround- 
ing them, which, up to this period, had been a 
fruitless effort. The savage tribes of all countries 
have ever been more or less impressed with theforais 
and ceremonials of the Romish Church ; and in a 
few years, by their persistent and insinuating man- 
ners, coupled with lessons of civilized life, the 
Spaniards acquired great influence over tliem, and 
by 1585 their rule was acknowledged by all of the 
tribes as far west as the Mississippi River. It was 
during this period that those convents and mission- 
ary houses were built, the ruins of which the trav- 
eller will meet with here and there in the central 
portions of Florida, and which excite considerable 
interest in the antiquarian. All of these institu- 
tions were but outgrowths of the central establish- 
ment at St. Augustine. 

The succeeding year the town was again 



DEAKE'S DESCENT ON FLOEIDA. 45 

attacked, though, we should judge, quite accident- 
allv. This time the Ando-Saxons were the 
aggressive party, for the first time venturing to 
take a hand in this rather uncertain Florida 
business. The hero was none other than that 
restless and dauntless old sailor. Sir Francis Drake 
of England. An expedition was fitted out by 
some private adventurers, • consisting of twenty- 
six sail, with Drake as admiral. Their main 
object could have been little else than plunder ; 
and they made no small fist of it either, for they 
captured a number of Spanish seaports in the 
West Indies, raked their commerce generally, and 
wound up by paying a reconnoitering visit to the 
coast of Florida, in the hope that they might add 
to their spoils or their glory. They descried a 
" look-out," or tower, off St. Augustine, and at 
once made a descent upon the neighborhood. 
Advancing, they encountered quite a formidable 
fort, but poorly garrisoned, as the sequel showed. 
On this they made a rapid advance, and were 
greeted by a few random shots, when the guard 
fled, leaving fourteen guns, and military stores, 
including a treasury-chest of several thousand 
pounds. This latter trifle was straightway escorted 



46 A WINTER m FLORIDA. 

with military honors to the fleet ! The succeeding 
day, Drake marched upon the town, which the in- 
habitants, with a very shght show of resistance, 
evacuated, leaving it in the peaceable possession 
of the Enghsh. History does not seem fully to 
agree as to the burning of the place by Drake ; 
but since he did take the place, and as his hatred 
of the Spanish was only second to their hatred of 
him and his people, it is altogether probable that 
he fired the town. Indeed, the weight of evi- 
dence incHnes to this supposition. It is not un- 
likely, that, since they immediately left and re-em- 
barked, but a small portion of the city was burned. 
Drake had no intention of holding the country, 
and, having completed his " swinging round the 
circle " of Spanish settlements, set sail for home, 
where he arrived in July of the year last above 
named (1586). 

The city of St. Augustine was, before this 
attack, as large in point of population as it is to- 
day. It soon recovered from this temporary, and, 
as we beUeve, slight injury by Drake ; and its 
growth continued for nearly half a century, 
though one writer asserts, that, about IGIO, 
the natives, from some unknown cause, made a 



FIBST TEIAL FOR TREASON. 47 

descent upon the town, capturing it, and utterly 
destroying it by fire. This we do not in any 
manner credit. In 1665, however, it was attacked 
and plundered by a Capt. Davis, an English 
buccaneer, — a class of persons who, from about 
Drake's time and for over two centuries after- 
wards, swarmed among all the islands of the West 
Indies and the adjacent seas. It was lil^ewise 
about this period, that an English colony, of, more 
than likely, freebooters, established a settlement 
at St. Helena, on the St. Mary's River, within the 
then boundaries of the State, but now in Georgia. 
In 1680, the Spanish governor became jealous of 
the great power of the chief of one of the largest 
and most powerful tribes in Florida, and decided 
to procure his arrest for treason ; and it is not im- 
probable that he had adjudged him worthy of 
death, even before a council had assembled to 
formally determine the question. He w^as, of 
course, pronounced guilty, notwithstanding his 
solemn protest that he w^as both loyal to and zeal- 
ous in papal faith and powder. He was sentenced 
to die ; and his last words were to his countrymen 
not to avenge his death, thus actually proving the 
sincerity of his asseverations. The tribe over 



48 A WINTER IN ELOEIDA. 

Avliicli he had held undisputed sway felt outraged, 
as they unquestionably were, in the death of their 
beloved leader ; and fierce and bitter war ensued, 
resulting in the driving out of all the Spanish 
settlers north of the St. John's River. From this 
period, the Spanish power in this colony commenced 
rapidly to decline, while the English settlements 
increased, till they had full possession of the 
Carolinas. The French had to a very great 
extent withdrawn, and planted a colony at the 
mouth of the Mississippi River. 

In 1702, the Enghsh Gov. Moore, of South 
Carolina, planned an attack on St. Augustine, 
which proved disastrous only to himself. 

Up to this period, most of the attacks on the 
Spanish had been at St. Augustine, that being the 
capital of their colony ; but in 1703, Gov. Moore, 
having a wish to retrieve liis reputation, sought 
and obtained a large force of Indians, accompanied 
by a few wdiites, and made an incursion back from 
the sea-coast on Lewis Fort, from which, by skill- 
ful maneuvering, he managed to draw out the 
garrison, when a sangumary battle ensued, result- 
ing in the complete triumph of Moore's party. 
The effect of this was to break the power of the 



EAELY LESSONS TO THE INDIANS. 49 

Spanish in Middle Florida ; and they withdrew from 
that region, and the less reluctantly, since, in this 
conflict, then' principal school and convents had heen 
destroyed, together with their settlements. What 
had taken three-fourths of a century to build up 
had, as it were, in a day been utterly annihilated. 

A few years of peace followed, — long enough 
to prove to the Indians, who had fought and won 
for the English their crowning victory in Florida, 
that " white men were very uncertain," and that 
those who were their friends to-day might be their 
enemies to-morrow. The truth of this they fully 
realized, as many better people have before, but 
more especially since these times of which we 
write. 

They felt so outraged, that they did not hesitate 
to form an alliance with their ancient enemy, the 
Spaniards ; and under their leadership, and in con- 
junction with them, they weve marched into what 
is now Georgia, but at that period claimed as a 
portion of Florida, though in actual possession of 
the English, who had, during the last few years, 
added greatly to their numbers and wealth, with 
their chief settlement at Savannah. This com- 
bined army marched, about 1717, into Georgia, 



50 A WINTER IN FLOEIDA. 

only to succeed in obtaining a sound drubbing at 
the hands of the Britons and their Indian alHes of 
that section. 

The Spanish governor concluded, thereafter, to 
remain at home, and to quietly surrender the rule 
over a portion of his territory. The effect was, 
as the humorous Artemas "Ward used to say, to 
make the ways of " Lo ! the poor Indian," very 
hard indeed. The governor restricted their privi- 
leges, and drove them from their fields, so that they 
came to be kicked and cuffed in turn by the Eng- 
lish or Spanish people, as fortune led them. Thus 
one of the most powerful tribes on the continent, 
the Yomasees, were, at this time, among the most 
abject. The Spanish now held St. Augustine and 
the adjacent settlements and territory on the 
Atlantic ; while, on the Gulf coast, their corre- 
sponding strong point was St. Mark's. 

The boundaries of Florida w^ere now substanti- 
ally diminished, and extended on the north be- 
tween St. Mary's and the Altamaha Rivers, and 
westward by south to the Mississippi River. This 
western boundary was put in jeopardy by an 
attack on Pensacola, a place founded prior to 1690, 
and that had been held at times by the French 



OGLETHOKPE ATTACKS ST. AUGUSTINE. 51 

and then by the Spaniards, up to 1722, when it 
was permanently relinquished to Spain by a 
treaty. 

Difficulties were continually springing up be- 
tween the encroachins; En2;lish settlers on the 
north and the Spanish, culminating, in the spring 
of 1T40, by Gov. Oglethorpe of Georgia plan- 
ning an invasion of Florida, and particularly 
the reduction and capture of the city of St.. 
Augustine. With an army of rising two thou- 
sand men (and Indians not taxed ! ) he marched 
on that place, seconded by an English fleet under 
Com. Price, who arrived off the harbor too late, 
however, to prevent re-enforcements reaching the 
town by the sea. An unsuccessful siege was prose- 
cuted, chiefly from Anastasia Island, opposite the 
city. The distance w^as such as to render the 
shots inefiectual, though some of them struck and 
buried themselves in the sides of the fort. These 
shot-holes and abrasions may still be seen on the 
east and north-east side of the fortification, or 
could at the time of our visit. Oglethorpe was 
obliged to retreat, and fell in disgrace among his 
people : but later, in a counter-attack on his own 
colony by the enemy, he was, by some strategy, 



52 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

enabled to regain tlieir regard ; and, in 1743, he 
put on foot another expedition, which was marched 
by land to St. Augustine. This proA^ed more 
disastrous, if possible, than the first. The Span- 
iards followed them on their retreat harassing 
and killing many, aided, of course, by the savages, 
who hung on their flanks, following and destroying 
some of the Eno;lish settlements in Georo;ia. 
Finally, in 1748, a treaty was concluded between 
Spain and England, which had the effect to pro- 
duce a period of comparative quiet. 

In 1763, Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain ; 
whereupon a large portion of the Spanish settlers 
withdrew, and in their places came army-officers 
and pensioners, together with emigrants from 
Britain. The country soon became quiet, and 
agriculture again flourished ; but in 1783, after 
twenty years of occupancy by the British, the 
territory was re-ceded to Spain, and a correspond- 
ing hegira of the English occurred, as in the case 
of the previous cession. It only needed this to 
complete the desolation. Of course, the incoming 
Spaniards did nothing, not knowing what moment 
word would come of another transfer. Beyond a 
single disturbing element of small proportions. 



BORDER TROUBLES. 53 

tlicre was little to hinder the advancement of the 
peaceful arts ; but the country retrograded rapidly. 

A more lamentable condition no state or terri- 
tory could well find itself in. The industry of a 
century had been allowed to go to decay; and 
rapine and war had driven nearly every vestige 
of civilization from existence. 

The United States, meanwhile, had grown — 
indeed were at this time — a powerful people, and 
looked upon this wilderness of Florida (for such 
it had now become) with eyes of longing, which 
was not wholly unnatural. 

Troubles and disputes began to thrive along 
•the northern borders, when President Monroe 
dispatched a small force in 1811 to act as a corps 
of observation ; but its commander, more zealous 
than prudent, soon found a pretext for occupying 
the whole of Amelia Island, on which the town of 
Fernandina is situated. His course was disap- 
proved by the Government, and our forces were or- 
dered to be withdrawn. While preparations for this 
object were going forward, the Spanish governor 
caused an attack to be made on the retiring forces, 
resulting in the killing of some of the troops. In- 
stead of hastening, this act but detained our forces. 



54 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

Again the commanding officer was superseded by 
Gen. Pinckney. Meanwhile, the administration 
sent two more commissioners to negotiate for a 
transfer of the territory to the United States ; but 
this effort proved abortive. Internal strife and 
commotion flourished ; but, in the spring of 1813, 
our troops evacuated the territory. The succeed- 
ing year witnessed an attempt on the part of the 
British to occupy West Florida. The '' Yanks " 
needed but just such an attempt to give them 
license to " move in ; " which they speedily did, 
under the direction of Gen. Jackson, five thousand 
strong, and made an early call on the redcoats 
who already occupied Pensacola. A trifling " un- 
pleasantness " ensued : the English left on their 
fleet which brought them ; and Jackson proceeded 
soon after to arrange for the more important duties 
to come off at New Orleans on the succeeding, 
and now memorable, 8th of January. 

We pass the period which was well filled with 
Indian conflicts and border warfare, to 1818, when 
Jackson, in punishing the savages, was affronted 
by the Spanish commander at Pensacola, in whose 
vicinage he was. Whereupon he repeated the cap- 
ture of the place, and sent the Spanish prisoners 



EXCHANGE OF FLAGS. 65 

and governor to Havana. This brought the 
question of a transfer of the territory plainly 
before the authorities of Spain. It was evident 
that " manifest destiny " would annex this territo- 
ry to the Union, either with or without their con- 
sent. They at once entered into a treaty in 1819, 
which was ratified by an exchange of flags on 
the ITth of June, 1821. 




CHAPTER IV. 

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS. 

Bravery of the Indians. — Their Peculiar Modes of Warfare. — Dn- 
phcity taught them by Europeans. — Injustice then and now. — 
Gen. Jaclisou's Views of Duty. — Personal Appearance of Coa-cou- 
chee. — His Capture, Confinement, and Dream. — His Eemoval 
West with the Kemnants of his Tribe. — An Affecting Scene. — 
The Present Boundaries of Florida. — Its Geological Formation 
and Probable Age. — The Antiquity of the Kace. — East and 
West Florida. 

The transfer of authority over this peninsula 
was a notable event in its history. No human 
agency could well have averted such a result. 
Out of this fierce caldron of hates and retribution, 
order was to come, but not yet. Years of strug- 
gles and many precious lives were the real price 
we had to pay. No race of beings under the sun 
ever fought with such persistence and desperation 
as did these red men, the Seminoles, in the swamps 
of Florida. Their chief, Coa-cou-chee, w^as a brave 
and cunnino; savao;e, and his fi^htino;-men excelled 
in every element of strength and agiUty. A 

56 



A BKAVE PEOPLE. 57 

pitched battle was out of the question. They were 
outnumbered, and fought, economizing life, behind 
the trees, or concealed from view in some jungle or 
thicket. A hissing arrow, and all else was silent. 
When least expected, they screamed their wild 
war-cry, struck, and vanished in the impenetra- 
ble forest. Nothing impeded their marches : 
they were expert as swimmers, and as tireless as 
the rivers whose dark, calm waters often swallowed 
and shielded them from their pursuers. Living 
on the fruits and fish which a provident nature 
abundantly supplied, they w^ere enabled to pass 
rapidly over great distances, and seemed, indeed, 
almost ubiquitous. They were the terror of our 
troops : and considering themselves the rightful 
occupants and owners of the soil, and believing 
that this struggle was to be their last great effort, 
their courage and daring rose with the occasion. 
The history of this band of braves, so replete 
with thrilling interest and real romance, would 
afford ample material for a Walter Scott, fi-om 
which to weave as many tales of this " place of 
flowers " as of his own bright and bonny land. 

It is a sad history, that of the Florida abori- 
gines. The rising sun brought with it no people 



58 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

from the east wlio were to prove their friends. 
Spaniards, Frenchmen, and Britons were all alike 
in selfishness and duplicity. Their lessons had 
been severe and were well remembered : hence, 
by the time the utilitarian population of the States 
had acquired power and permanency, they, too, 
were adepts in deceit and diplomacy. 

History will account them a barbarous band; 
but, while this is doubtless true, it should not lose 
sio;ht of the influences which wrouo-ht out this 
result in their characters. Would any people, 
however enlightened, even in this age, escape the 
doing of many acts of savage wantonness, if they, 
as were these red men, were hunted from their 
country, and their cities and public works leveled 
to thfe ground, by some invading race of Titans, 
who souo;ht to chano;e their lands back to their 
primeval character and beauty, and who, by dupli- 
city and right of might, defrauded them of even 
their right to live ! That the Indians believed 
themselves the children of the Great Spirit, whom 
they sought to worship in their rude way, is true ; 
and that they knew the white man to be an in- 
truder is also true. 

It may not be among the possibilities for the 



INHUMANITY. 59 

two races to live together ; and, if we concede 
that it was in God's providence to establish the 
white race on this continent, then we may, in 
some deo-ree, be reconciled to the march of events 
here : but that can not palliate nor excuse the in- 
humanity and fraud continually practiced upon 
these rude children of the forest, from the earli- 
est intrusive visits of the wdiites to the present 
time. 

We have no right to judge of the former tribes 
by the present degenerate fragments we see and 
know upon our remote borders westward. They 
are only the residum of a mighty race of men, 
who for three hundred years have been plundered 
and robbed of every possession, and schooled in 
every vice, by the worst of our own people. It 
was no crime to practice upon them ; and, by syste- 
matic approaches, they have been entrapped into 
every imaginable difficulty, for the sole purpose of 
plundering them or the government who presumed 
to shield them. 

The problem of the two races living peaceably 
near each other may never reach a desired solu- 
tion ; and, with the present roving bands, it may 
indeed be impossible, in view of their long degra- 



60 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

dation. Few venture now, since the effort of a 
Schoolcraft has been unavaiKng, to even stand np 
long in their defense. The shafts of sarcasm and 
ill-concealed contempt, which is leveled at these 
efforts, doubtless deters many whose hearts are 
inclined to be moved in their behalf, so far at least 
as to demand justice and fair treatment. 

Gen. Jackson was too much of a fighting-man 
to allow any high moral duties to enter into the 
calculation of any of the rights of the Florida In- 
dians ; and the battles partook of the vengeful 
spirit of the chiefs. 

Osceola and Little Cloud were among the more 
distinguished of the Indian chiefs ; but of Coa-cou- 
cliee, though less is known, that little is full of 
unusual interest. He was perhaps the royal 
prince. He was a son of the famous King 
Philip, and hence was an hereditary chief, wdiich 
was not the case with Osceola, who was an 
accidental or elected chief, and only a half-blood 
Indian. Our royal scion might liave served for a 
model, — tall, straight, and slender, with the eye 
of an eagle, and as shrewd, agile, and untiring 
as history has painted him : yet he was captured, 
but subsequently escaped by leaping down from 



DEEAM OF COA-COU-CHEE. 61 

the tower of San Marco Castle at St. Augustine, 
where he had been kept imprisoned. He was 
again captured, and this time so heavily ironed and 
so long imprisoned, that his proud spirit was bent 
if not broken ; and, to procure his release, he was 
compelled to sign articles of removal to a home west 
of the Mississippi River, and also to induce his tribe, 
now but a remnant, to go with him. This they 
consented to do for their chiefs sake. Coa-cou- 
chee, believing in the protection of the Great 
Spirit, was measurably reconciled to the loss 
of his beautiful home and glorious hunting- 
grounds, and to an exile in what was to him an 
unknown and distant land. The historian Sprague 
tells the story of a dream as related to him by this 
Prince of the flowery land, which occurred while 
confined in the dungeons of the fortress at St. 
Augustine. 

" The day and manner of my death," he says, 
" are given out, so that, whatever I may encounter, 
I fear nothing. The spirits of the Seminoles 
protect me ; and the spirit of my twin-sister, who 
died many years ago, watches over me. When I 
am laid in the earth, I shall go to live with her. 
She died suddenly. I was out hunting ; and, when 



62 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

seated by my camp-fire alone, I heard a strange 
noise, — a voice that told me to go to her. The 
camp was some distance off; but I took my wife 
and started. The night was dark and gloomy ; 
the wolves howled about me. As I went from 
hummock to hummock, sounds came often to my 
ear : I thought she was speaking to me. At day- 
light I reached the camp, and she was dead ! I 
sat down alone, and under the long gray moss of 
the trees, when I heard strange sounds again. I 
felt myself moving, and went alone into a new 
country, where all was bright and beautiful. I 
saw clear-water ponds, rivers, and prairies upon 
which the sun never set. All was green : the 
grass grew high, and the deer stood in the midst 
looking at me. I then saw a small white cloud 
approaching ; and, when just before me, out of it 
came my twin-sister, dressed in white, and covered 
with bright silver ornaments : her long black hair, 
which I had often braided, fell down upon her 
back. She clasped me around the neck and said, 
' Coa-cou-chee ! Coa-cou-chee ! ' I shook with 
fear. I knew her voice, but could not speak. 
With one hand, she gave me a string of white 
beads : in the other, slie held a cup sparkling with 



SPANISH DUNGEONS. 63 

pure water. As I drank, she sang the peace-song 
of the Seminoles, and danced around me. She 
had silver bells on her feet, which made a loud, 
sweet noise. Taking from her bosom something, 
she laid it before me, when a bright blaze stream- 
ed above us. She took me by the hand, and said, 
' All is peace ! ' I wanted to ask for others ; but 
she shook her head, stepped into the cloud, and 
was gone. All was silent. I felt myself sinking, 
until I reached the earth, when I met my brother 
Chilka. He had been seeking me, and was alarm- 
ed at my absence." 

Coa-cou-chee was undoubtedly greatly influ- 
enced to sign the articles of removal in view of this 
dream. There are, perhaps, no people so studious 
as the untutored savage to follow what they believe 
to be the dictates of the Great Spirit, whom they 
hold in such supreme reverence and awe. 

When he was asked what had become of the 
" white beads," he declared he had lost them in 
the darkness of his dungeon at St. Augustine. 
We can the more readily credit this, havmg our- 
selves been permitted to enter them for inspection ; 
and surely darker and more dismal caverns of 
prisons can not possibly be even imagined. To say 



64 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

that they were constructed under the supervision 
of the Spaniards is sufficient assurance of their 
completeness for every purpose for which they 
were made. 

Standing once more free, on the deck of the 
ship in Tampa Bay which was to transport him 
and his people beyond the Mississippi, folding 
his arms upon his breast, he gazed intently upon 
his native land, wrapt in silent contemplation of 
the past and its eventful history ; and, running in 
thought up the long line of his royal ancestiy and 
back to his own and his nation's humiliation, 
his proud heart for the first time melted, and 
blinding tears veiled liis sight. Turning silently 
away from view of the land which held all that 
was dear to him, he breathed a brief prayer to the 
Great Spirit ; then, gathering up his mantle, sank 
down upon the deck, never again to gladden his 
eyes with the scenes of his youth he loved so well. 



The Union had acquired, by the cession of this 
territory, 59,268 square miles, embracing about 
thirty-eight millions of acres, or an area nearly 
equal in extent to all of New England. A very 



GEOLOGICAL FOEMATION. 65 

large proportion of this is an extensive marsh, 
which during the rainy season, between June 
and October, effectually prevents an overland 
transit from one shore to the other in the southern 
portion. The northern and eastern section of the 
peninsula is of a level character ; the middle and 
western portion will be found in places quite 
uneven and considerably elevated, yet no moun- 
tains will be found. 



The geological formation of Florida is of com- 
paratively recent origin, and is indeed among 
the latest-formed land on the continent, excepting 
only the delta of the Mississippi River. Its 
present condition would, even to the ordinary 
scientist, give many proofs of this ; but we are 
not without the opinions of learned savans on 
this question, who hold that the whole peninsula 
has been formed by the successive growths of coral 
reefs, added concentrically, from north to south, to 
the first deposits, while the accumulation between 
these reefs has been a mixture of coral and frag- 
ments of shells : the coral prevaihng in some parts, 
as in the remons of the everglades ; and in other 



66 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

portions, especially the northern and eastern, the 
shell. In various places, imbedded in these shells, 
fossil remains of animals now inhabiting the coun- 
try may be found. Upon this marine limestone 
formation and its inequalities, fresh-water lakes 
exist. On the shores of one of these, — Lake 
Monroe, — near the head waters of the St. John's, 
and through which that river passes, we exhumed 
the remains of human beings. They were in a 
most remarkable state of preservation, and indi- 
cated a race of men equal in stature to that of the 
stronojest of Ano;lo-Saxons. It is not known how 
long a period these remains have been buried ; but 
a learned writer has said that Upper Florida, as far 
south as the head waters of the St. John's, consti- 
tuted a prominent peninsula before Lake Okee-cho- 
lee was formed, and that the whole of the south- 
ern extremity of the State, with the everglades, 
has been added to that part of the continent 
since the basin has been in existence in which the 
strata with human bones have been accumulating. 
Agassiz, in referring to the formation of the lower 
and later half of the peninsula, that part which 
lies south of the fresh-water system, — being in 
extent some three degrees of latitude, — assumes, 



GEOWTH OF THE CONTINENT. 67 

that if the rate of growth be one foot in a century 
from a depth of seventy-five feet, and that each 
successive reef has added ten miles of extent 
southward, it would have required, on this compu- 
tation, one hundred and thirty-five thousand years 
to have formed the southern half of the peninsula 
above referred to. The peculiar growth of some 
of the islands of the Carribean Sea is quite like 
that of the lower half of the peninsula of Florida. 
They are formed on the tops of some mountain 
under the sea ; and, through the agency of animals 
Avkich inhabit the water, these coral growths are 
established on them, and are gradually elevated to 
the surface. 

It is altogether probable, that, previous to the 
last four centuries, there was nothing known of 
this continent by the Europeans. After its discov- 
ery, the appellation of the New World was given 
to contradistinguish it from the eastern hemisphere. 
It was to them indeed a new empire ; and its 
marvelous attractions in climate, fruits, and flow- 
ers led them to great exertions in the way of dis- 
covery and exploration. They little dreamed 
that this vast continent was peopled throughout its 
entire extent, and that its birth antedated that of 



68 A WINTER IN FLOEIDA. 

tlieir own " Old World ; " yet later investigations 
prove this to be true, and also startle ns of the 
present century, when we are informed that an 
exuberant flora existed in Louisiana more than 
one hundred and fifty thousand years ago, and that 
in all probability the human race existed in the 
delta of the Mississippi over fifty thousand years 
ago. The reasons by which these conclusions are 
reached are generally well know^n and accepted 
by the more eminent geologists. 

In the course of excavating for some public 
works, it is stated, at New Orleans, the labosers 
came to and cut through four successive growths 
of cypress timber, the lowest so old as to cut like 
cheese ; and one tree was found full ten feet in 
diameter. The growth of these trees is very slow, 
requh'ing about one hundred rings to give an 
inch in diameter from the center. This would 
make the age of the largest about six thousand 
years. It is not known how many generations of 
these trees have perished on each of the several 
levels ; but it is assumed that at least two have. 
This Avould give to each strata of cypress growth 
twelve thousand years ; and the four growths mul- 
tiplied by this, to which must hkewise be added 



THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 69 

tlie era of plants prior to the cypress, estimated at 
fifteen hundred years, also the present live-oak 
platform, or era, thought to be about the same in 
time, would make a grand total of fifty- one thou- 
sand years. And it was under this fourth growth 
of cypress, that a skeleton of a human being was 
found, belonging to the aboriginal American 
family ! This was found within about fifty feet of 
the surface, while the total depth of the delta 
itself is between five and six hundred feet, and is 
believed to have required fully one hundred and 
fifty thousand years for its accumulation.* This 
is probably somewhere near the age of the lower 
half of the peninsula of Florida. How much 
older the upper portion may be is unknown ; but 
that even dwindles into comparative insignificance 
when we contemplate the age of the elevated por- 
tions of the continent. This much as to the for- 
mation and age of the peninsula ; and we pass to 
the consideration of its admission into the Union. 



The territory, embracing the two provinces of 
East and West Florida, was consolidated, and 



* Sec Types of Mankind. 



70 A WINTER IN FLOEIDA. 

Gen. Jackson was its first territorial governor. 
In 1845, Florida was admitted into the Union ; and 
for a time there was comparative quiet, and new 
settlements were established. But poor, harassed 
Florida was not long to enjoy either peace or pros- 
perity. The secession movement in 1860 raged 
in all portions of the South ; and this State, with 
others, was by fraud and violence carried out of 
the Union. It soon became again, for almost the 
hundredth time, a theater for war. The general 
government at once occupied all of its chief sea- 
ports, and places along its rivers, with troops ; 
and incursions into the interior were the standing 
order. No great battle was fought within its 
borders, though numerous and sanguinary con- 
flicts were caused by the various raiding-parties in 
all the more northern portions of the State. 
Finally the war ended, and peace again has 
spread her wings over this oft devastated and many 
times ruined people. And now let us hope that 
this is the inauguration of a prolonged and flour- 
ishing period which time has in store for her. 

Thus far we have considered Florida as a unit : 
while giving its general history, we could scarce 
have pursued any other course, and make ourselves 



THE TWO PKOVINCES. 71 

at all Intelligible to the reader. It was perhaps 
desirable to cover the whole ground in that par- 
ticular, as a clearer idea would be formed of the 
eastern half, as related to the State and its event- 
ful history. The territory was, however, early 
divided into two provinces, known as East and 
West Florida ; and in each there was for many 
years a local head. As it suits our present plan to 
continue the division, we shall hereafter speak 
mainly of the eastern half, since our travels and 
observations have been confined to that region, 
except, perhaps, in a casual way, when we ( ome 
to treat of the climate and the products of the 
State in future chapters. 




CHAPTER V. 

UP THE ST. JOHX'S TO JACKSONVILLE. 

The Hai-bor of Fernandina. — Entering the St. John's Eiver. — Ap- 
pearance and Impressions given of the Country. — The St. John's 
Eiver contrasted. — Its Peculiarities. — Jacksonville, its Eail- 
roads and Hotels. — Its Eapid Growth, and Large Commerce. — 
Its Suburban Eesidences. — The St. James Hotel. — The Lum- 
ber Trade. — Mail and Telegi-aph Facilities. 

It was five o'clock in the morning, when the 
steamer " City Point " rounded the southern 
end of Ameha Island, and steamed up to the 
wharf at Fernandina. We roused ourselves 
from a broken, weary slumber, and, drawing aside 
the blinds to our state-room window, cast our 
eyes for the first time upon this antiquated town, 
situate near the mouth of St. Mary's River, and 
at the extreme north-eastern corner of the State. 
It was low tide ; and the wharf had a kind of 
black-spider look, which did not charm, neither 
did it deter us from dressing, and proceeding on 
shore. The wharf is a projecting one, with a 

72 



FEENANDINA. 73 

commodious warehouse at the landing. The 
morning was darkened by a sea-fog, which now 
commenced to drift in, partially obscuring obser- 
vation. A brief excursion satisfied us that this 
was an uninviting place to stay in. Its look of 
decay and hard times seemed as legible as if 
written on every plank in town. Beyond the 
sight of the railroad, which runs from here to 
Cedar Keys, there was nothing of special interest. 
Hurrying back to the steamer, which till now 
had seemed never so friendly, we were glad to 
receive its protection, and quite rejoiced when the 
wheels splashed the water, bearing us away. 
The truth was, we were disappointed ; and this 
made us feel homesick, and created a wish that 
the steamer would head northward, and away 
from the desolate shores of Amelia Island. 

A few hours of steamino; brouo;ht us near to 
the bar in front of the mouth of the Kiver St. 
John's, — called in the times of BartramJ St. Juan. 
The fog was dense, and the locality dangerous for 
an advance : thirty minutes of this bewilderment, 
and the penalty paid is detention till the succeed- 
ing tide. • A few moments, however, and a whif 
of air drives the fog, and lifts it skywards. The 



74 A WINTER IN FLOIIIDA. 

pilot is proved skillful, for we lay but a few yards 
from the moutli of tlie river. Crowding on all 
steam, we barely pass over the bar ; and then, 
fair sailino;. And this is the famous river of 
which we have so much heard, and whose praises 
are being sounded far and wide by every tourist 
who visits it. 

Passing the headlands, an open flat, or savanna, 
appears, in width perhaps five miles, extending 
however, many miles up along the coast as 
far as the eye can reach. The river crosses, in a 
westerly direction, this low tract, much resem- 
bling the Jersey flats between Newark and New 
York. We soon pass on, and by the solid 
banks of the main land. Three hundred years 
ago and more, Jean Ribault threaded his way 
over the dangerous quicksands at the entrance of 
this noble river, and, proceeding up, landed, and 
built a monument of discovery ; then sailed away, 
to return in a few years with a colony of his 
countrymen, who were subsequently slaughtered 
by the Spaniards, as we have seen in a previous 
chapter. 

Not more than a mile from the motith of the 
river, and on the banks of this low marsh, we 



MAY PORT. 75 

saw, to our great wonderment, as the steamer 
hugged the banks, seven alHgators of varying 
sizes, and all within a few yards of each otlier. 
They did not stir, or even wink, so far as one 
could observe, thouo-h the steamer's waves washed 
up to and partially over them. This was a new 
and curious sight, and gave promise of some fine 
sport, which it was hinted we should have on the 
upper portion of the river, where they abound. 

Having passed through this savanna, or low 
marsh, we steam close to the bank of the river, 
keeping the principal channel ; and, as we stand 
upon the decks, our attention is called to the 
first landing, May Port, an inconsiderable place. 
A rickety old wharf of palmettoes, with several 
corresponding habitations, constitutes every thing. 
But here we catch the first glimpses of a tropical 
growth. A fcAv rods distant from the landing 
stands a small grove of palmettoes ; though not 
over twenty-five feet in height, yet their 
peculiar character attracts the attention of the 
Northern traveler. Casting your eye farther 
inland, and the green forests tell of a perpetual 
spring ; and we now realize that we have passed 
from the chilling winds of a Northern winter to 



76 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

the genial skies of that sunny land, of wliicli we 
so often hear, but seldom or never experience in 
any other of the Southern States. 

A recent traveler, entering the river, and 
sailino; westward across the marsh before referred 
to, to the point of the main land where the river 
turns abruptly southward, asserts, that, in making 
this turn, a curious atmospheric phenomenon is met 
with : a current of warm air is so suddenly en- 
countered, drawing down the river, that the 
change is like s^oino; from a cold hall into a warm 
room ; that this change can be observed, not 
only on a calm day, but when a high wind is 
blowing. It is undoubtedly the gate, as it were, 
to that tropical land where perpetual summer 
reigns. 

The invalid and the tourist flock eagerly to the 
steamer's decks, to drink in this balmy air, and 
feast their eyes on the green foliage of the forest 
wliich flanks on either side the water's edge. 
The drooping spirits of the passengers rise as the 
steamer advances up the broad and beautiful river 
which so dehghts all eyes and gives eloquence to 
every tongue. The surface of the country is low 
and uniform, presenting none of those grand and 



THE ST. JOHN'S EIVER. 77 

startling features which characterize the Hudson 
or render the Connecticut surprisingly lovely; 
yet it possesses a marked and pleasing contrast to 
the muddy waters of the Santee, Cooper, Savan- 
nah, and other rivers of the South. Its shores of 
glistemng white sand, and rich verdure of Southern 
foliage along its banks, with its broad, expansive, 
slow-moving waters, attract and interest all, and 
especially those who are accustomed only to the 
bolder outlines and scantier ve^-etation of the more 
northern water-courses. 

The course of the River St. John is noteworthy. 
There are but few rivers on the globe, of any 
magnitude, that run in the same direction. Rising 
in the southern half of the State, fed by and 
flowing out of that vast fresh-water basin 
formed by the everglades and savannas, and com- 
mencing below the 28th degree of latitude, it runs 
in a due northerly course for about two hun- 
dred miles, when it abruptly turns eastward, 
and empties into the ocean. It is a magnificent 
highway, and is to Eastern Florida what the Hud- 
son is to Eastern New York. We know of but 
two rivers of any importance whose direction is 
exactly the same, One of these drains the 



78 A WINTER IN FLOKIDA. 

northern limits of Britisla America, and debouches 
into the Arctic Ocean ; and the other, having its 
sources in Middle Europe, into the Baltic Sea. 
We have said the St. John's was a noble river : and 
it is truly so ; for what river can the reader call to 
mind, which he has seen, that for over one hun- 
dred miles of its length has a general average of 
even one mile and a half? We know of but one 
other m this coimtry, which would come even up to 
this estimate. Yet shall the truth be credited, 
when we state that this river will average about 
three miles in width for the distance above named ! 
In places it expands to twice that ; and we can not 
recall seeing it contract at any point to less than a 
mile, after you get fairly into the river, until Lake 
George is passed, above Palatka, wdien it narrows 
suddenly, and continues thus to Lake Monroe, 
which is the head of re2;ular steamboat navi<2:ation, 
though a small steamer does go on as far as Lake 
Harney, and even beyond, but only at the instance 
of excursion parties. This portion of the river, 
known as the " Upper St. John's," we shall speak 
of in a subsequent chapter ; meanwhile we return 
to " The City Point," on which we were just now 
steaming up, on our way to Jacksonville, some 



THE CITY OF JACKSONVILLE. 79 

twenty miles from the river's mouth. Passing 
Yellow Bluff, a small landing of trifling impor- 
tance, at which the steamer halted, and rounding 
a bold point in the river, we heave in sight of 
Jacksonville, the commercial metropolis and busi- 
ness center of Eastern Florida. All eyes are 
upon the town, and all are pleasantly surprised to 
see what is apparently and actually a flourishing 
little city. Its bright, cheerful appearance, having 
a fine view, as we near the pier, is attractive, and 
so differing from Fernandina, the first point 
touched in the State, that we already are having 
our original anticipations more than realized, and 
begin to rejoice that we have made the journey, 
which was undertaken at the outset with some 
misgivings. 

JACKSONVILLE 

is situated on the western bank of the river. There 
is a ferry across to the opposite shore, where are a 
number of pleasant homes, and among them is that 
of the present State Executive, Gov. Reed. The old 
stage-road, called the " Kings Road," runs from this 
place along the coast, north, into Georgia, and across 
the river south-west some forty miles, to St. Augus- 
tine. The travel now goes to that place chiefly by the 



80 A WINTER IN FLORIDA 

way of PIcolata, some lliirty niiles up the river, 
tlience by stage eighteen miles across. The rail- 
road connections of Jacksonville are considerable, 
and give a life and bustle to the town which we 
scarce expected. True, but one line of road 
enters the city; but this runs in direct connec- 
tion with the various roads in, and those entering 
the State. At Baldwin, some tv/enty miles west, 
connection is made with the Fernandina and Cedar 
Keyes Road, which crosses at that point. Pro- 
ceeding westward to Live-Oak Junction, connec- 
tion is made with the Florida and Atlantic and 
GulfR. R., for Savannah, which is distant from 
Jacksonville twelve hours and a half by the night 
express-train. Continuing westward from Live 
Oak, the road runs through to Tallahassee and St. 
Marks on the Gulf. 

Jacksonville, named for Gen. Jackson, is an in- 
corporated city, having the usual city officers and 
a board of trade. It is regularly laid out, having 
eight principal streets about two miles long, and 
running parallel with the river : these are crossed 
by others at right angles, their length being 
easily extended, ad infiyiitmn. Shade-trees abound, 
and of fine size, consisting of live and water oaks, 



THE SUBURBS OF JACKSONVILLE. 81 

the latter making for this purpose much the finest 
tree. Its luxuriant and rapid growth and hardi- 
ness have caused it to be adopted. They are both 
evergreens. From the river, northward a short 
distance, the land has a gentle elevation ; then 
descends, terminating in a low tract or swamp. 
On the north-western side of the city is a beauti- 
ful bluff, covered with attractive residences, shaded 
with stately trees, and bearing the pleasant name 
of " La Villa." The view up the river from 
this point is delightful. Fifteen miles away is 
Mandarin, a projecting tongue of land, which, from 
where we stand, seems to sever the river. The 
river has such a reach of view from this point, and 
such breadth of waters, as to give the appearance 
of a lake with wooded shores, fifteen miles 
long and from three to five miles wide. Passing 
on from this village a short distance, and toward 
the river-banks, you come to the new town, appro- 
priately named " Riverside," and likewise a 
suburb of Jacksonville. This place is now being 
built up, and designed to be made a select quarter. 
Its streets are spacious, and a park has been re- 
served, and many shade-trees planted. None but 
fine buildings are to be erected ; and all must be 



82 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

painted, instead of whitewashed, — a practice fol- 
lowed by owners of cheaper dwellings in the 
city. 

No city of the South can show better evidences 
of prosperity, or a larger increase of population, 
relatively, than Jacksonville. 

The waste and stagnation caused by the war 
has in this place quite disappeared. 

On every hand, we behold the magic touch of 
Northern hands and Northern capital. Whichever 
way we turn, new buildings and stores greet our 
view; old ones being enlarged, streets cleaned, 
and substantial, or at least convenient plank- 
walks laid where lately they were innocent of any 
such improvement. On the river, wdiarves are 
enlarged, till now its accommodations seem ample 
for an extensive commerce. In short, new im- 
pulses and new ideas have seized the town ; and its 
present watchword is " Forward." 

The population of the place is about six thou- 
sand, increased during the winter months to about 
eight thousand, by the influx of strangers from 
all portions of the North, seeking temporary 
homes. Not until the past year has there been 
any thing Hke adequate accommodations for this 



HOTELS AT JACKSONVILLE. 83 

large number, not taking into account the constant 
flow of visitors going and returning. Great exer- 
tions have been and are being made to supply the 
demand for small houses, and Northern energy 
.and capital are kept busy. Even that venerable 
and itinerant agriculturist of " The Tribune," Mr. 
Solon Robinson, is busied almost night and day, we 
should judge, in superintending and building 
houses of this class. 

. As to hotels, there are several ; though the most 
pretentious is " The St. James," erected in time 
to reap considerable of a harvest from last season's 
business. It is a large, overgrown, yet rather im- 
posing establishment, capable of receiving two 
hundred guests. It is situated about half a mile 
from the steamboat landing, and likewise the rail- 
road depot, and seems every way adapted to the 
wants of the traveling public. Another house of 
equal capacity is, we learn, contemplated. " The 
Stickney House" has a good reputation, and 
several friends stopping there spoke very well of 
it. There are, in addition, the " Price " and 
" Tyler " houses, and numerous private boarding- 
houses kept by Northern people, with pleasant 
surroundings, and quite as inviting as the hotels to 



84 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

those seeking but a temporary home. Price of 
board ranges from twenty-five dollars to ten dollars 
per week at these various places. Unfurnished 
cottages can be had from twenty dollars to thirty 
dollars per month. Pleasant furnished rooms in 
private houses, including fuel, light, and attend- 
ance, are from four dollars to six dollars per week ; 
and the best board, without rooms, at the hotels, is 
eleven dollars per week, while in boarding-houses 
it can be obtained at a less figure. Laundry work 
is extra, and costs usually one dollar per dozen. 

The town contains ten churches, four of which 
are colored, the most of them having pastors. 
But the most of them need paint, w^ith a little up- 
holstering, Avhich, with a few additional yards of 
carpeting, would, even in Jacksonville, — more fa- 
vored than many towns of the South, — add much 
to the comfort of both residents and strangers. 
But time will change this, and we must not expect 
overmuch from those who are already doing great 
credit to themselves. 

The colored element in Jacksonville is numeri- 
cally the largest. They support churches and 
schools, and are represented in the city govern- 
ment and in the courts, and are to be found, as 



STEAM SAW-MILLS. 85 

they always have been more or less, in the me- 
chanics' shops and behind the counters of some 
stores. Under and by tlie direction of the Freed- 
man's Bureau, a normal-school building was some 
time since erected, at a cost of fourteen thou- 
sand dollars, which offers superior educational ad- 
vantages for all classes ; though avc are informed 
that none but colored children avail themselves of 
its benefits. 

The chief article of manufacture and export, 
not only from this city, but from Eastern Florida, 
is pine lumber. Jacksonville has over a half-dozen 
extensive steam saw-mills, kept constantly in mo- 
tion, cutting up logs into lumber for the markets 
north. Whole forests go down to keep the maws of 
these monsters supplied. Whether this will always 
last is doubtful ; for, in the aggregate, a small 
army is kept plying the axe just back of the main 
river and along its tributaries. We say "just back" 
from the river. Along the banks of the water- 
courses no pine lumber grows ; but a short distance 
back from them, in many cases less than a hundred 
rods, pine lumber abounds : indeed, it is the chief 
thino; in this State, as it is in all the States beltinir 
the Atlantic, as far up as the James Kiver in 
Virginia. 



86 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

The commerce of this place is equal to that of 
some cities in the North of three times its popula- 
tion. Brigs, schooners, and steamers, several in 
the aggregate, arrive and depart almost daily for 
different ports up the river or along the sea-coast 
from Savannah to Portland. 

A daily mail arrives by rail from the North ; and 
this, with the telegraph, gives Jacksonville an im- 
portance which no other town in East Florida pos- 
sesses : indeed, this is the only town which has 
both of these luxuries^ though all the river-towns 
have abundant mail facilities. There is a tele- 
graph to St. Augustine. 

In our next chapter, we shall continue our voy- 
age up the river, noting every thing of interest 
which came under our observation. 




CHAPIER VI. 

FROM JACKSONVILLE TO GREEN-COVE SPRINGS. 

Attractions of the Lower St. John's. — Its Great Width. — The Pas- 
sengei-s, their Hopes, and Prospects. — Mandarin, the Winter Resi- 
dence of Mrs. Stowe. — Ancient Landmarks. — Hibernia andMag- 
noha Point. — Green-Cove Springs. — Its Attractions for Invalids. 
— Capt. Henderson and his Northern Friends. — Black Creek and 
AUigatcrs. — An Adventure. — Ride to Middleburg, 

A BEAUTIFUL day is this in wliicli to resume our 
trip. The sun comes out full and warm : over- 
coats are not thought of. It is quite hke a warm 
day in May, when the bees are busy wdth the 
flowers, and apple-orchards are more fragrant and 
dehghtful than any Eastern perfume. The air 
seems redolent with the odor of balsam and wild 
flowers, wafted thitherward by southern gales, 
while on either shoi-e the foliage is bursting into 
freshest and tenderest green, contrasting finely 
with the dark verdure of the perennial laurel, oak, 
and magnolia, which line the river-sides. 

It is a common term, '^ up the river," or " up 

87 



88 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

north ; " and since most rivers rin southerly, up 
the river gives an impression of g^ing northward. 
We say '' up north" and " down south ; " these 
terms are all understood when thus used : but to 
say " up the river," in speaking of the St. Johns's, 
means going souths since the river runs from the 
south toward the north. Hence, every revolution 
of the steamer's wheels carries us " up the river," 
and at the same time '' down south." 

By the time our steamer had gotten fairly under 
way, the passengers had chiefly assembled upon 
the decks to feast their eyes on each interesting 
point and feature of the river, and to gaze in won- 
der at its emerald shores, which now stand several 
miles away on either hand, while our vessel plows 
its trackless w^ay in the center of the river. 

Turnino* toward Jacksonville, it seems but a 
small village, and nearly hidden at that by its 
luxuriant shade-trees. If one were suddenly placed 
where we now are, the first query would likely be, 
" What lake is this ? " and such it seems to those 
who have been accustomed only to the streams 
and rivers of New England. 

Our passengers may be divided into four classes, 
and preponderate in the order in which they are 



THE PASSENGERS. 81 

named : first, those who are seeking pleasure ; sec- 
ond, those who arc seeking health ; third, those who 
come to invest in land for speculation or occupancy ; 
fourth, the resident population living along the 
river, and traveling on their ordinary business. 
The first and more numerous class appear generally 
to realize their object, and are greatly interested 
and delighted with every thing they see, which is so 
novel, if not so wonderful, as to engage and enliven 
them constantly. It is indeed a source of real 
amusement to observe the younger portion of this 
class rush from point to point, as some stray mem- 
ber of the company spies some near or distant ob- 
ject thought worthy of the others' attention. The 
next class, the invalids, are not so demonstrative, 
but show many signs of confident hope and real 
deliirht to find themselves in a climate where thev 
can, with comparative impunity, not only sit and 
walk in the open, genial air without detriment, but 
with real benefit to their spirits and general health. 
This class is largely composed of those on whom 
disease has so recently fastened itself as to scarce 
indicate its presence. These must be very greatly 
benefited, if not wholly cured ; while others are so 
far reduced as to make traveling of any kind a 



90 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

burthen and labor. Such wc greatly pity ; for in 
their faces hope is a stranger, and they can not 
long remain in any clime or earthly habitation. 
They come here to die, far from home, deprived 
of the sympathy and attention of loving and watch- 
ful friends, and of home-comforts which money 
can not purchase. It is true that the people here 
are kind, and give such attention as is in their 
power ; yet this does not compensate for a wife's, 
a mother's, or a sister's tender interest and pres- 
ence. 

The speculative class may be known by their 
inquisitive look. Every feature of their face seems 
an interrogation point. They seem bent on ex- 
tracting from you information as to the best loca- 
tion, kind of soil, and climate, and if there are any 
snakes in that neighborhood, and if we know of a 
good place for a hotel! Many are the times we 
have been greatly amused by the ingenious 
methods of these persons in their attempts at elicit- 
ing their prized information. To such as we felt 
were anxious to locate, our limited knowledge was 
freely imparted ; but to the other portion of this 
class, those looking for a " good thing to hold," 
our snake-stories had no relish : they were twice too 



THE KESIDENCE OF MRS. STOWE. 91 

long and plenty for their fancy, and tliey invaria- 
bly "moved on," quite astonished and disappointed. 
Nothing but the " pesky rebels and them are 
snakes " gave them cause for any apprehension. 

There is a good deal of a fitful fever of specula- 
tion, which is prevented from settling into any 
thing like a decided type, in consequence of the 
difficulties surrounding a good title. Then, too, 
many of those who hold lands are women (widows, 
made so perhaps by the war) ; and these especially, 
if asked to set a price, fear to do so lest they should 
regret not having asked twice as much. Pur- 
chasers are not a little disgusted, and generally 
return without having made an investment. By 
and by these things will change ; and, even as it is, 
new settlers are working their way into all portions 
of the State. 

A long shrill whistle by the steamer an- 
nounces a landing, and the wharf at 

MANDAKIN 

lies just before us. This place is famous as the winter 
residence of Mrs. Stow^e. It is but a small settle- 
ment, of perhaps a h.alf-dozen dwellings scattered 
along a tongue of land projecting toward the cen- 
ter of the river, and forming a kind of bay. The 
outlook is northerly toward Jacksonville, which 



92 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

lies half a score of miles distant down the river. 
The location of Mandarin is exceedingly pleasant, 
and the view fine and far-reaching. 

The water near the bank of the river on the 
Lower St. John's is quite shallow, necessitating a 
projecting pier of some length at all of the land- 
ings ; and this is especially the case at Mandarin. 
Mrs. Stowe's house is near the bank, and but a few 
rods to the left of the shore-end of the pier. It is 
of a dark brown color, of verj moderate cottage 
size, wholly unpretending in appearance, and quite 
inexpensive. The chief feature of her place, as 
seen from the river, is its magnificent towering 
shade-trees, — the water-oak. They attract and 
fasten the eyes of all by their unusual size and 
beauty. Their wide-spread and over-shadowing 
branches give an air of seclusion and dignity to the 
quiet home beneath. Her place, we are informed, 
consists of some forty acres in the rear of her 
dwelling, with three or four acres of orange-trees, 
large enough to bear fruit. This grove is being 
added to, and doubtless in time she will possess a 
very large and beautiful orchard and one of great 
value. 

There is but one small boardino;-house at Man- 



HIBERNIA — MAGNOLIA POINT. 98 

darin, and few disembark ; none tliat we notice, 
except sucli as reside in tlie vicinity. The mails 
being exchanged and freight left, we steam on, and 
up the river ; and, rounding the point, 

HIBERNIA 

is seen just ahead, on our starboard bow. Beyond 
is a spacious, overgrown New-England-appearing 
farm-house, hid behind clustering trees and 
branches, on a pleasant and inviting spot of land ; 
and, aside from this, iiothing else appears. The 
steamer stops, and here a goodly number leave for 
the hotel. Here and there appears an occasional 
fine plantation, with comfortable dwellings and 
numerous outbuildings, once the house of the 
lordly planter and his slaves, but now simply 
monuments of a past and exploded system. 
Next is 

MAaNOLIA, 

with a large and commodious hotel. This place 
was formerly owned by Dr. W. D. Benedict, and 
originally selected by him after careful examina- 
tion for its attractive natural scenery and high 
sanitary reputation. This property has recently 
been purchased by Dr. S. Kogers and 0. F. Har- 



94 A WINTER IX FLORIDA. 

ris, formerly of Worcester, Mass., and by tliem 
greatly improved ; tlie buildings having been en- 
larged, thoroughly repaired, and newly furnished 
throughout for the accommodation of about one 
hundred guests. From the reputation of these 
new proprietors, we should judge visitors would 
find this a desirable winter home. The house is 
to be opened by the first of ISTovember. Its 
proximity to Jacksonville and Green Cove Springs 
give it some advantages not possessed by towns 
further up the river. The facilities for reaching 
these several towns, situate on the banks of the 
St. John's, are the same. The Savannah, Charles- 
ton, and river steamers all touch, going up and 
down, long enough to leave or take aboard both 
passengers and freight. The captain of one of 
the river steamers states that Magnolia Point, con- 
tiguous to Magnolia, is one of the highest, if not 
the highest point of land extending into the river 
between Jacksonville and Palatka. It certainly 
has two commanding views : that dowm the river 
extends to Mandarin, and up the river your pros- 
pect is not less circumscribed. Black Creek, a 
navigable stream for twenty miles, and quite well 
settled, empties into the St. John's but a short 



GREEN-COVE SPRINGS. 95 

distance north of Mamolia Point. Small steamers 
make trips regularly once a week from Jacksonville 
up Black Creek as far as Micldleburg, and not 
unfrequently oftener, as parties or business re- 
quire. 

Immense quantities of pine timber and lumber 
are floated down this creek to Jacksonville ; and an 
equal quantity of alligators might be taken out, 
we have no doubt, if there were only as good a 
market for them as for the lumber, which at 
present unfortunately does not appear. These 
animals, after passing the first few miles at the 
mouth of the river, -^ which is through a low 
marsh, as we have stated, — are scarcely seen 
between Jacksonville and Palatka, not because 
they are not numerous enough, perhaps, but for 
the reason that they find more quiet and better 
feeding-places in the coves and up the large and 
small creeks which flow into the St. John's; and, 
among these. Black Creek seems a favorite re- 
sort. 

Two miles beyond Magnolia, past the first point 
of land, a beautiful spacious bay is seen, on the 
shores of which stands 



96 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 



GREEN-COVE SPRINGS. 

This is the first village after Jacksonville, and the 
only considerable place between it and Palatka, a 
distance of one hundred miles (round numbers). 
More than a score of well-dressed people are 
standing on the end of the pier, awaiting our 
arrival : and full that nimiber land with piles of 
baggage, looking quite as though they had come to 
stay ; and this is likely, for here the tourist and 
invalid find extra attractions as the name would 
indicate. There is a healthful and charming 
spring here, where all may bathe and frequent, 
without money or price. The village is scattered 
along and back from the banks, in a somewhat 
straggling manner, with not over thirty dwellings ; 
yet you feel their influence and companionship, 
and this drives off the blues, and is certainly an 
advantage to the invalid as also the traveler. 

The accommodations for guests are quite ample ; 
though, if they were greater, they would not stand 
idle. We know of quite a number, who, coming 
in on the steamer, were informed that all rooms 
were filled, and were obliged to re-embark and 
seek some less frequented place. There is a large 



ACCOMMODATIONS AT GREEN COVE. 97 

hotel here, The Union House, kept by Mrs. Eaton, 
though nominally in charge of Mr. Remington, a 
Northern man. This house will receive comfort- 
ably about fifty guests. It is large and airy, but 
shockingly needs a coat of paint and some repairs, 
and also more prompt attention to guests, to make 
it more welcome as a home. Still, it does very 
nicely ; and doubtless it is the intention of the 
owner to introduce the suggested improvements 
by another season. There is also a large board- 
ing-house near the spring, whose proprietor has 
such an odd foreign name that it quite escapes us. 
His house accommodates twenty."^ Then a few pri- 
vate families open their houses and receive guests. 
Capt. Henry Henderson and his warm-hearted 
companion never turn any away if they have any 
sort of accommodations for them. Their house is 
not large, but it covers a great many people. 
Capt. Henderson is a favorite with the visitors. 
His extensive acquaintance with, and long experi- 
ence in the State, have given him a vast fund of 
information and anecdote with which he beguiles 
the evening hours, — the center of attentive circles. 
Everybody knows him among the natives ; and he 

* Captain Glinskie. 

r 



98 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

is mucl: respected and esteemed by them as a man 
of spotless integrity and honor. He is a native of 
St. Lawrence County, New York, and has been 
in Florida forty-five years : he is now seventy- 
three years of age, yet he boasts of his ability to 
''take his horse and hunt with any of the boys." 
He enjoys a social game of eucher ; and scarce an 
evening, when not interesting some one with his 
wild and fascinating adventures, he might be 
found seated with Tompkins of Stony Point, Mer- 
rill of Vermont, and Hughes of Ohio, each trying 
to outdo the other in friendly strife. The captain 
is hale and hearty still. 

Our home in this village was with the family of 
P. R. Coleman of Orange County, New York. 
He has been in the State but a couple of years. 
He came out alone, afflicted with chronic rheuma- 
tism ; but settling at this point, by systematic 
bathing and copious drinking of the pleasant waters 
of the spring here, he claims to be entirely cured : 
certainly he has now a fresh and vigorous appear- 
ence. Deciding to settle here, he sent for his 
family ; and witli them we found a comfortable 
home. Mrs. Coleman, a most amiable lady, 
brought with her wliat many people can never 



CHARACTER OF THE SPRING. 99 

cany, for obvious reasons, the perfect art of house- 
keeping as known in our best Northern homes. 
Should this family remain at Green Cove, we feel 
bound to assure all who are so fortunate as to find 
lodgings under their roof, tliat they need borrow 
no trouble or anxiety as to their comfort while they 
remain. 

The price of board varies from ten to fifteen 
dollars per w^eek. By the day, at the hotel, it is 
three dollars; at the private houses, two dollars. 

Fresh fish, venison, and fowl grace the tables in 
this village, and can usually be had in abundance. 

The river is, in fact, full of every kind of fish, 
and on its surface float nearly all kinds of water- 
fowl ; wdiile the woods afford an abundance of 
game and wild animals, of wliich we shall more 
fully treat in some succeeding chapter. 

The spring is the attraction at Green Cove, 
distant not over ten rods from the river, and 
double that from the principal hotel. It is owned, 
as are most of the village lots, by two parties, — 
Mrs. Ferris and a Mr. Palmer at Jacksonville ; 
who being opposed to improvements, and seem- 
ingly to every enterprise as w^ell as to their own 
interests, suffer the spring to remain surrounded 



100 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

by a clump of wild trees, wliicli, however, serves 
a good purpose in screening bathers ; yet it is not 
to the interest of the villagers to have affairs con- 
tinue in their present unimproved state. The 
spring has scooped for itself a bed, twenty by 
fifty feet, and lies some ten feet below the sur- 
rounding level. It flows freely from its fountain- 
head into this spacious reservoir, of an average of 
five feet in depth, and then runs rapidly off to the 
river. The water is at a temperature of, we 
should judge, about seventy-five degrees, very 
pleasant, and thoroughly unharmful to drink. It 
bursts up with considerable force, and clear as 
crystal. It has a slight sulphurous taste, and leaves 
slio-ht traces of the same mineral on the sides of 
the spring. Both magnesia and iron are, we 
think, heldm solution. Every one spoke in high 
praise of this spring- water, both as a drink and for 
bathing uses ; for the latter of which, regular 
hours are assigned to the different sexes. A dozen 
or more rude yet convenient dressing-houses sur- 
round it. 

In a short time, Green Cove must become, for 
invalids at least, the chief point of attraction on the 
River St. John's. This conclusion Ave have come 



AN ADVENTUKE. 101 

to after having visited every other place on its 
entire length. The sportsman, however, should 
locate on the Upper St. John's, many miles above 
this. The tourist and pleasure-seeker will not un- 
likely visit all the towns along the river ; and even 
this latter class would find this point a proper and 
convenient one as a head-quarters. It has quick 
and frequent communication with Jacksonville, 
often several times each day ; the mails are very 
regular ; and, in case of any exigency, the tele- 
graph is accessible at the latter place, where also 
the usual accessories to comfortable housekeeping- 
may be easily obtained. 

Up Black Creek to Middleburg, the head of 
navigation, is some twenty miles. The county- 
seat is located there ; and before the war it was a 
respectable village, with a convenient hotel, where 
numerous invalids found cheap and not uncom- 
fortable quarters. This, with other buildings, was 
in one of the many raids through this section 
destroyed. A small steamer runs up there once 
each week from Jacksonville, when not otherwise 
employed ; which happened to be the case at the 
time we were ready to go ! A trip across the 
country through the woods was resolved upon. 



102 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

The needed equipments were a horse and " Colt," 
the latter of the revolving breed ; to procure which, 
we were directed down the river road, a mile away, 
and thither we bent our steps. The first half- 
mile we had no difficulty in following the " road; " 
after that, it became a serious question : but, keep- 
ino; the edo;e of the river, we came where several 
old slabs, and a log or two half submerged, lay 
across the arm of a projecting pool, overgrown 
with pond-lilies, and filled with water as black as 
ink, colored doubtless by the decaying vegetable 
matter it held. We essa3^ed to cross. Kapid mo- 
tion was a necessity. Having gained the center 
in comparative safety, we made a long stride, and 
leaped on what seemed a portion of the floating, 
jointless bridge ; wdien, horror of horrors, in a mo- 
ment, a flash of time, yet long enough to awaken us 
to the imminent danger, a sudden, writhing plunge, 
and fierce splash of the living tail of the supposed 
W, and Ave went swirlino; into the water anion cr 
the slabs, from which our fright and frenzy speedily 
brought us, somewhat wet and bruised, but ex- 
ceedingly thankful. The deceitful " old log '•' was 
a few yards away, slowly saihng toward a circle 
of weeds and tall grass, with his round eyes just 



OUR ALLIGATOR. 103 

above the water's surface, and evidently surveying 
us, while we shook our impotent fists in rage at his 
head. This clump of grass and reeds, we con- 
cluded, must have been a reo-ular alli^o-ators' nest : 
for, besides this big fellow that had so incontinently 
upset us, we counted three others adjacent, and all 
within five rods from the spot on which we now 
stood. That alligators are comparatively harmless 
to people, we had been told, and had now some 
reason to believe : still, we should not like to en- 
counter them in the water. A hundred years ago, 
they were much more plentiful than now along this 
river. Bartram, the younger, relates having seen 
them everywhere along the river and the banks 
of the St. John's. He also mentions their trying 
to get into his boat when it was tied to the bank ; 
but he did not suppose it was their intention to 
destroy it, but merely to possess its contents. 
They will give fearful battle among themselves 
frequently. The two master animals of different 
communities have, like champions, been seen by 
Bartram to engage each other in a terrible contest ; 
the others being silent spectators to the close of the 
scene, when the friends of the winning combatant 
would roar with a victorious clamor. We have 



104 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

never heard of any person being destroyed by tliem, 
or injured except when imprudently approaching 
them on shore while wounded. We might have 
captured one had Mr. Murray's intrepid guide, of 
Adirondack celebrity, been along at the time of 
ci'ossing the floating bridge, we should have had no 
difficulty in securing the alligator for preservation 
in some historical or antiquarian collection ; since, 
if he had had the same presence of mind as when 
he caught and held Murray's deer, the question 
of capture could not have been a doubtful one, 
as his opportunities to hold on would have been 
greater ! We sliould at least have surrendered 
with as much nonclialance as Mr. Murray, our 
claim to the beast. 

We returned to the villao-e with courage una- 
bated, but our bump of caution had been by the 
morning's adventures considerably enlarged. Pro- 
curing a team of a villager, who kindly consented 
to accompany us, we proceeded, but on quite 
another road, across the pine woods, dodging the 
obstructions, and, notwithstanding, maldng good 
time. 



CHAPTER Yil. 

CENTRAL FLOKIDA. 

jrrom Green-Cove Springs to Picolata. — Appearance of Picolata. — 
The Steamer "Darlington." — Capt. Brock and "Admii'al" Eose. 
— Palatka, its Commerce and Importance. — Climate. — An 
Orange-Grove. — Dunn's Lake. — The Ocklawaha River. — Beau- 
ties of the Upper St. John's. — The Mocking-Bird^ 

PICOLATA. 

To Picolata from Green Cove is but a couple of 
hours' sail ; fare, one dollar. The only impression 
made by this short trip on the river was its lake- 
like appearance. Picolata figures conspicuously on 
most of the maps as an important town ; but the 
reality is so absolutely nothing, that it is truly 
laughable to think that it should ever have had 
any name beyond, perhaps, " Brown's Farm," or 
" Smith's Stables." An inventory is as quickly 
given as any thing : one beer-shop, one comfort- 
able farm-dwelling, and a few rude stalls construct- 
ed and occupied for the use of the stage-lines to 
St. Augustine is all. Beyond being the nearest 
point on the river to that old city, and the place 

105 



106 A WINTER IN FLOEIDA. 

where passengers destined for St. Augustine dis- 
embark, it is of no importance. We doubt whether 
a respectable pauper at the North would take the 
whole thing as a gift, and be obliged to stay upon it. 

On our return trip, we shall get off here, and go 
by stage 18 miles through the pine woods to the 
old city. But, for the present, we propose to take 
the reader to the Upper St. John's, the gem of all 
rivers. 

Making no note of the several small landings, 
where our steamer, " The Darlington," called for 
wood and delivered the mails, we are only in- 
terested in the broad river which moves toward 
the sea, and watch the flocks of wild ducks as they 
fly athwart our bows, and dream of the fascination 
which this land had for those who were its first and 
rightful owners. Here were fish, flesh, and fowl at 
their feet, in quantities sufficient to supply their 
demands ; and no wonder they disputed the inva- 
der's right to the last acre with an unequaled 
desperation and heroism. 

The sky, which has all day been bright and 
sunny, is fast becoming overcast with threatening 
clouds, that seem to gatlier rapidly in the south- 
west : an hour later, and the slanting rain warns us 



THE "DARLINGTON." 107 

off the deck, and we seek the cabm of our good ship 
"Darhngton." Perhaps a word as to the boat 
and its officers will be welcome, since this floating 
hotel is to be our home for a day or two. First, 
as to the boat, which has accommodations, we should 
think, for not over forty passengers, and this trip she 
was not crowded ; of fair speed, and built not un- 
like the Western river-boats, — giving up all of the 
first deck to the machinery and freight, while the 
upper deck is devoted to passengers ; having two 
saloons, one quite small for ladies and children, 
wliile the main saloon is frequented by all ; around 
this are ranged the state-rooms, while at meal- 
time it serves as a dining-hall. Its chief officers 
are Capt. Jacob Brock and Admiral " Rose." 
The first sails the boat, assisted by a pilot, while 
the Admiral is in actual command. Since she 
(the Admiral) is better known along the river 
and by travelers by the name of " Rose," we may 
follow the custom, though unquestionably the title 
is due her. She was not born to bloom and blush 
unseen, — not she. Her every word of command 
might be heard ringing out sharp and clear above 
the noise and confusion at every landing. Her 
word was law : her orders were instantly executed 



108 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

by every officer below the captain ; and with him 
she held occasional conference, in which it could 
well be observed, by the tone and gesture, that it 
was she who gave the final word. A stout-built 
athlete of two hundred pounds, of medium lieight, 
a full piercing eye, regular features, and with a 
peculiarly commanding voice, and look of one whom 
experience had taught that life was a battle, and 
they who made the best fight won ; a flow of ideas, 
logical and pointed, with a half ubiquity of pres- 
ence and an equal mixture of the Seminole and 
Anglo-Saxon wine of life, and you have before you 
the portrait of "Admiral Rose." She was a study 
and an object of no little interest to all. 

Our captain was formerly from Connecticut, 
we beUeve : he at least married there, but has 
lived long enough away, buffeting the world, as at 
times to quite forget the pious teachings of his 
early youth. However, he is a very efficient, 
and, so far as we observed, a very obliging officer. 
His native energy and tact have served him to 
excellent purpose, we judge ; since he is now not 
only the master but owner of his boat, as also of 
the hotel at the end of the route, and other 
property in the State of considerable value. He 



PALATKA. 109 

informed us that he commenced his steam-boating 
career on this river nearly fifteen years ago, and 
that this same " Darhngton " had been in service 
most of that time, and she still seemed good for 
half a score of additional years. 

PALATKA 

is reached late in the afternoon. This town 
is on the west side of the river, and is larger 
than Green Cove : indeed, this is the largest place 
on the river above Jacksonville, and is about one 
hundred miles south of the river's mouth. Its 
population can not be over half a thousand. 
Occupying a high and dry site above the river, 
extending a quarter of a mile along its banks, it 
appears to be a pleasant, thriving village, with 
eight stores, including a fine drug-store, two large 
hotels, two churches somewhat neglected, two 
steam saw-mills, and several fine residences, with 
the balance plain and scattering. The stores 
seemed well filled with a large stock of goods, 
from which an extensive back country had to be 
supphed. Palatka is a kind of steamboat head- 
quarters for the Upper St. John's and its tributaries, 
and is the terminus of the Savannah and Charleston 



110 A WINTER IN FLOillDA. 

lilies; namely, the "Dictator'^ and " City Point,*' 
running from Charleston to Jacksonville, thence 
to this place. This line is known as the " outside 
line," since it takes to the ocean between the 
mouth of the river and Savannah. The other 
line, composed of the " Nick King," and " Lizzie 
Baker," runs along the inside passage, off the sea- 
coast and the mainland, to the mouth of the river, 
thence to this place, and is known as the " inside 
line." The two lines make four round trips each 
week. Then there are the river-lines, which run 
from Jacksonville up to this place, and beyond, to 
the head of navigation. These, w^ith the lines to 
Dunn's Lake and Ocklawaha, which run weekly, 
make daily arrivals at this point. We counted 
four steamers tied up to the wharf the evening of 
our arrival. Most of them lie over here all night, 
passengers having the privilege of remaining on 
board or going to that excellent hotel, The Putnam 
House, kept by O. E. Austin, of "Down-East" 
enterprise. 

Palatkahas a newspaper, ''The Eastern Herald," 
a weekly^ of circumscribed diinension and circula- 
tion. It gave us a surprise to find such an article 
here, and helped to drive away an impression 



AN ORANGE-GEOVE. Ill 

which some hoAV hud taken hold of us, that we 
were in the woods. 

Man}^ of the receilt settlers or new-comers 
are from Auburn, and the vicinity of Central 
New York, — persons whose health has been 
more or less precarious, and who have found 
benefit in a residence here. Though their specu- 
lations, we understand, have not proved as remu- 
nerative as was anticipated, still, some have taken 
hold with a resolution that doubtless will, in a 
few years, "prove some things as well as others." 

This place affords a delightful climate most of 
the year, and is in our opinion as far south as 
invalids need to go, though many do go farther, 
and perhaps with advantage. 

Early vegetables can be had here in March; 
and, indeed, we have eaten here, new peas and votsi- 
toes this month. What a strange experience for 
the Northerner, who has come away from the 
frozen fields and gardens of the ISTorth, where 
these things do not ripen, on the average, before 
the 1st of July, over four months later ! 

Opposite this place, on a high bank, stands a 
beautiful orange-m-ove, with a few orano;es left 
from the December frosts. Not since 1835 has 



112 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

there been a frost to kill the trees or destro}^ the 
crop till last December (1868), when a heavy 
frost destroyed most of the fruit, except in the 
southern half of the State ; but the trees them- 
selves received no damage. Tliis grove opposite 
Palatka contains five hundred trees, and is the 
largest we have seen in the State. They had 
commenced to gather the fruit before the frost ; 
and a single tree had yielded sufficient to net 
sixty-five dollars, while some trees had over a 
hundred dollars' worth of oranges.* This grove is 
neatly kept and very beautiful, and forms the 
chief attraction about Palatka. 

The character of the river above Palatka is in 
striking contrast with that of the portion below. 
The town stands nearly at the central point of its 
length ; and that portion below, to its mouth, may 
be rightly designated the " Lower," and tliat above 
the " Upper " St. John's ; though, strictly, it is 
some miles above this town where the river con- 
tracts rapidly its banks, and discloses those peculiar 
features which make this peerless river of the 
South the admiration of every lover of the pictur- 
esque and beautiful. The water is clear, and the 

* Letter of Frank L. Burr, Esq., in Hartford Times. Our thanks are 
due to Mr. Burr for copies of his letters. 



THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER. 11,3 

banks present a richer and more luxuriant growth 
of semi-tropical vegetation ; and then there is no 
longer that uniform and monotonous landscape, as 
below, while each bend of the river presents new 
beauties in delightful and endless variety. Seven 
miles above Palatka, and we come to the outlet of 
Dunn's Lake, lying a few miles to the south-east, 
which is reached by a small steamer once a week 
from Palatka. The lands around this lake are hio;h- 
ly esteemed, being favorable to the cultivation of 
fruit and vegetables. Several Northern gentlemen 
ow^n interests there. Our friend David Clark of 
Hartford is among these. He is a half-owner in 
a wild-orange grove of several hundred acres, 
which is now being transplanted into rows, and 
budded with the sweet fruit. In a few years, he 
will probably possess one of the finest groves, as 
well as one of the largest, in the State. The 
entrance to Dunn's Lake and the mouth of the 
Ocklawaha River on the St. John's are separated 
by a distance of about ten miles. The Ocklawaha 
is a navigable stream for some one hundred miles, 
running in a tortuous manner westward and 
soutliAvard, passing through occasional lakes, with 
its source in the everglades of Southern Florida. 



114 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

It is a very narrow but a very deep stream, and 
is over two hundred miles in leno-tli. The reo;ion 
of country througli which it runs is thought to be 
finer in many respects than that along the St. 
John's. Some distance up the river is the famed 
Silver Spring, a great basin of surprisingly clear 
and deep w^ater, around which it is supposed clus- 
tered a populous village of the aborigines num- 
bering over six thousand inhabitants. All this 
vast region was once thickly settled by these 
people. We regretted that it semed impossi- 
ble for us to explore the country bordering on 
this stream ; but that would have consumed more 
time than it was possible to give. 

Near the mouth of the Ocklawaha is the old 
town of Welaka, once the site of an Indian village, 
and afterwards a flourishing Spanish settlement: 
now scarce a vestige of either of these populations 
survives to tell of their existence, so completely has 
time leveled every thing. Volusia, farther up, 
and beyond Lake George, is another city of the 
past Avith an unwritten history, though known to 
have been an important point when both the Span- 
ish and English held it. It was on the line of 
travel, and one of the principal points for crossing 



LAKE GEORGE. 115 

from St. Augustine and the Musquito Inlet countiy, 
on the east coast into Middle and Western Florida. 
It occupies a high site ; and the opposite shore 
stands boldly out, — quite in opposition to the 
theory of one writer, who asserts there are no 
points opposite in this river where both sides are 
high and dry. Indigo was extensively cultivated 
in the surrounding country a century ago, while 
rice and cotton received considerable attention. 

Before reaching this section, however, we pass 
through a large lake, some sixteen miles long and 
more than half that distance across, known as 
Lake George. On entering it, several islands are 
seen, and one of considerable size, called Kem- 
brandt's, that contains near two thousand acres, 
on which an orange-orchard stands, and a two- 
story frame-house, v/hicli is rather a novelty, since 
few houses of any sort are seen on the river, so 
much of a wilderness is it. Even the shore of this 
lake is scarce broken in its entire circumference 
by any settlement. 

The St. John's is separated from the ocean its 
entire length by a comparatively narrow strip of 
land of not over forty miles in average width. Its 
banks are mostly low, very apt to be swampy, and 



116 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

are densely covered with the primeval forest, — 
live-oaks, water-oaks, bay, gum, and magnolia, 
limig with the long waving drapery of solemn moss, 
while the beautiful palm with its crested crown sen- 
tinels its shores. Beneath and interwoven among 
these are the wdld jessamine and creeping vines, 
lacino; the undero;rowth over with an unbroken ver- 
dure, and rising from the water to the tree-tops. 
Then a dell appears, festooned with climbing and 
o'er-arching growths, gracefully curtaining its en- 
trance, and tempting its beholder within the half- 
hidden sylvan retreat; farther on, and a broad ex- 
panse, or savanna, is seen, bounded by the distant 
forest, with here and there a solitary palmetto stand- 
ing alone like a plume. Flowing for some distance 
between banks of living green, the river suddenly 
widens, and we come to the placid waters of the 
lovely Lake George, across which we sail to the con- 
tinuing channel beyond. By some strange instinct 
and guidance, as it were, we find, hidden behind 
the tall grass and floating islands of this really 
fairy land, the sough t-for channel, though a half- 
score of equally promising openings had nearly 
tempted us astray. 

Again and again, this bewitching transfer is 



THE BEAUTIFUL BIVER. 117 

made from lao-oon to river and from river to lagoon 
and lake again. The shores here and there close 
to within a hundred feet, and is constantly turning 
the sharpest of angles, running back beside itself, 
fascinated with its own beauty as it w^ere, then 
whisking suddenly about, as if on a wager to outdo 
itself. On either hand, glimpses are had of bays 
and mirrored waters, whose surface and shores 
seem likely never to have waked to other echoes 
than those of the wild birds that inhabit them. 
Again the river seems lost in a bewildering per- 
spective of silver streamlets, separated only by 
some narrow knife-blade of meadow-land and flow- 
ers ; but up them they are all verdure-banked and 
moss-huno; and vine-curtained and flower-bedeck- 
ed, — the very picture of tropical profusion and 
summer loveliness. The swelling waves from the 
passing steamer lift and move away islands that 
just now were, but which a moment after are 
seen driftino; with the curi'ent and breeze in frao;;- 
mentary sections, each a living, floating, tropical 
bouquet. 

On these shores were the beautiful homes of 
those brave red men who were so cruelly hunted 
by the bloodhounds of Jackson, the story of which 



118 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

is a dark and cruel one, and causes marvel at that 
inscrutable Providence which permits the inhuman- 
it j of man to his fellows.^ 

The weather is delio-htful ; and with this odor of 
summer in the air, the spirit of Beauty everywhere 
around us, in the voiceful forest and bright waters, 
we are soon lost in silent contemplation. 



Along the banks, and at the more elevated por- 
tions, crops out just under the soil a crust of a foot 
in thickness, of snail-shell formation ; and also the 
coquina, a species of shell-rock, was seen. Wher- 
ever this shell is, the soil is fertile, and especially 
favorable to the growth of the orange, which may 
be found in a wild state on the banks and lands 
adjacent. 

The birds and wild fowl seem to have possession 
of this land, with no one to question their right or 
to make them afraid — of gunpowder. 

One half of the country upon the Upper St. 
John's is but a wide, extended plain, half soaked 



* The Administration, it is reported, sanctioned the use of blood- 
hoxinds in driving the Indians out of Florida. 







THE HOME OF THE HERON. 



HOME OF THE WILD BIRDS. 119 

in water, and covered with the tall reed-grass, 
trampled and broken down by the gigantic water- 
fowl which inhabit them. Great flocks of herons 
rise and circle the air, flying in long lines, and 
making at early morning the sky vocal with their 
wild sons; ; then descendino; in reo;ular column, 
light either upon the plains to feed, or on the tops 
of the tall cypress, venerable with years, and 
bearded all over with the long, waving gray moss 
which here drapes the forest everywhere. Then 
again the white curlews, so handsome and so shy, 
look like troops of embodied spirits, — they are 
so pure and bright in color. The tall cranes, 
standing singly here and there, — to birds what the 
palm is among trees, — start up Avitli a dull and 
heavy stroke, beating the rank growths heavily 
for rods along. We have seen them, so large, 
and so suddenly startled, causing them to fly forest- 
ward, where their sweep was so pent up as to 
prove an ignominious failure, coming down with 
a piteous cry or squawk, as if for mercy. The 
pelican is not so often seen. This bird is among 
the largest in the State, and chiefly frequents the 
low savannas, but seldom in pairs. Loons of 
various species inhabit these Avaters : one is of a 



120 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

somewhat remarkable character m color and 
habits, possessing a sharp bill, and a long slender 
neck of dun or cream-color, and the body and 
tail of a jet black, with the latter white-tipped. 
They seem fond of airing themselves on limbs 
just above the mirrored waters, whence they 
doubtless contemplate their figures as reflected by 
the polished surface beneath w^ith as much in- 
terest as any modern belle adjusting her toilet in 
lier boudoir. K discovered, they suddenly drop 
into the water and quite disappear, and in a few 
moments may be descried rods away, skimming 
the surface, with nothino- but their lono; necks and 
the tips of their tails visible above the w^ater. 
They present the appearance of a water-snake 
at this time, and are therefore knoAvn among the 
people as snake-birds. In paroquets, the colored 
people find an article of trade and commerce. 
Numbers of them were brought on board at one 
of the landings, and were speedily snapped up 
by the 'pater famillas of admiring and persua- 
sive young ladies, who thought them " so splen- 
did^^^ that a couple of dollars a head w^as readily 
paid for them, when, we believe, in the New-York 
bird-markets they can be had for half that sum. 



THE MOCKING-BIRD. 121 

But the poor birds were short-lived. A subse- 
quent investment in a young alligator, of dimen- 
sions suitable for a cigar-box, was so much more 
" charming ^^^ that the brilliant but woe-begone 
looking paroquets died from exhausted admiration ! 
Eagles are frequently seen, as also great fish-hawks 
that are often mistaken for the former. This land 
is to them one of unbounded resources, and they 
wax fat, and lord it with keenest relish. 

Innumerable smaller birds infest the woods, and 
chant their grand oratorios at dawn, while their 
inexplicable chatter fills up the day. But the 
queens and glory of this tro]3ical land, in bird- 
music, are the somber-robed, bright-faced mock- 
ing-birds, who for a moment halt in their aimless 
ways, scattering glittering and delicious gems of 
sons throuo;h all the woods. What silence ensues 
in the vast company of choristers and imitators 
when these Jenny Linds appear, eloquent with a 
melody all their own ! It seems, while we hsten, 
as if this were " Paradise Regained," such are the 
sights and sensations as we sail up and down this 
upper river, so tropical and so unique. It is one 
long dream of beauty, with choicest pictures of 
Oriental luxury and repose. Here let some un^- 



122 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

known artist come, witli the hand of genius to 
imitate these scenes, and his work shall ever rank 
with the most favored, as it would be among the 
most attractive in the land. 




CHAPTEK VIII. 



Lake Monroe. — Old Fort Mellon. — The Back Counhy. — Enter- 
prise. — What we thought of it, and what we found it. — Its Fine 
Hotel. — Abundance of Game. — A Fish Stor3\ — Enterprise the 
Place for Sportiog-Men. — Lakes Jessup and Harney. — Capt. 
Brock's Hotel and Orange-Grove. — The Two Enterprises. — In- 
dian-River Country. — Tropical Fruits. — Climate at Enterprise. 

LAKE MONROE. 

Our last chapter brought us to Lake Monroe, 
which stands at the head of regular steamboat 
navigation on the St. John's River. Entering this 
handsome sheet of water, of about five miles in 
diameter and nearly circular, we are able in clear 
weather to at once discern its two principal points 
of interest. The first is Mellonville, on the west- 
ern shore, formerly the site of Fort Mellon, built 
during the campaigns against the Indians. This 
point was originally, however, a trading-post with 
the natives, and quantities of furs were annually 
brought here. Tlie town itself is nothing worth 

123 



124 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

naming, beyond a wharf, small warehouse, andau 
humble dwelling combined. It looks desolate ; 
and yet we see a full half-score of settlers from 
the near interior, in waiting on the pier to obtain 
such articles as they had severally ordered. We 
were detained here a half-hour in discharging 
freight, consisting of flour, meal, some little 
machinery, implements of agriculture, and other 
minor packages of store articles brought from be- 
low. The country adjacent is little cultivated ; but 
back some twenty miles and more it is of a much 
better character, and has a prosperous settle- 
ment of quite intelligent and industrious planters. 
The soil here seems sandy, as it appears every- 
where away from the hummock-lands. The mails 
of " Uncle Samuel " are exchanged ; and the 
steamer, veering round, steers straight across to 
the eastern shore, and to the town of 

ENTERPRISE. 

A half-hour of steady work of the engines 
brings us to its wharf, extending ten rods into the 
lake. Our eyes surveyed the place a score of 
times ere the gang-plank could be made ready; 
and we were near having convulsions at the 



ENTERPEISE. 125 

thought of what Ave had pictured it and the reahty 
before us. 

A half-dozen buildings is the sum total of En- 
terprise, about which so much is heard by travelers 
on the river. A feeling of disappointment is in- 
evitable ; notwithstanding the traveler soon accom- 
modates himself to the fact of utter barrenness in a 
country which has been for a century forgotten ; 
yet, that at the head of navigation, the termini of 
steamships and travel, there should be found but 
one Jiouse^ is beyond all belief! This is, how- 
ever, the case ; though a new dwelKng was in 
course of erection during our visit. The hotel, 
the Brock House, the center and circumference 
of this city, is also a disappointment ; but it is in 
this case an agreeable one. From Jacksonville up 
to Enterprise, no hotel equals this. It is a genuine 
Northern-looking hotel, such as you may see at 
a watering-place on the seaboard, like, for instance, 
the old '' Watch Hill House " at Watch Hill, in 
Rhode Island. It stands broadside to the lake, 
one hundred and ten feet long, and two stories 
and a half in heighth, with a veranda its entire 
front, broad and airy. The house is well painted, 
and has attractive green blinds, and comfortable 



126 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

accommodations for upward of fifty guests. It is 
also Avell kept, by a gentleman from Maine, who 
makes liimself a polite and pleasant host. The 
table during our stay was well supplied with meats 
and fish. The night of our arrival the landlord set 
before us beef-steak, ham and eggs, roast venison, 
and fish. The venison had been caught that 
morning ; and before sunset, within a mile of the 
hotel, another buck was shot, a fine large one, off 
which a large party breakfasted the next morning. 
The w^oods are full of game, and the lake swarms 
with a variety of good table-fish. Trout, perch, and 
mullet are found in nearly all the lakes, while bass, 
sheep's-head, and bream abound the entire length of 
the river. Shad are taken in their season, as in 
other rivers to which they have access. Probably 
no river on the globe of equal size affords a greater 
supply of food for man than this. The most of 
our rivers are so drao-o-ed and hunted that fish are 
scarce ; and it would seem only in fancy that we 
could, within a four days' journey from the " Em- 
pire City" of New York, find a river full of fish, 
and as plentiful as though its discovery Avas but 
yesterday, instead of its being probably the first 
river entered on the continent by any European. 



ABUNDANCE OF WILD GAME. 127 

Why, you may see tliem faii'ly dancing on tlie sur- 
face of some of these lakes. Bartram, a hundred 
years ago, tells a story, that, at Battle-Pass, he 
witnessed a sight which those who know this river 
can readily credit. He was working his way up 
stream, when, observing the bloody appearance of 
the water, he hastened onward, and soon came to 
a narrow pass, where he was wonder-stricken at 
the sight that met his view. A vast swarm of fish 
was crowding by this point : they moved rapidly, 
yet the river was gorged and fairly dammed. On 
either shore, and in tlie stream, were a score of 
huge alligators, with distended jaws, crushing and 
destroying the helpless creatures with an astonish- 
ing rapidity. 

The fish caught in the Lower St. John's will 
average from one to forty pounds ; while in the 
Upper River, from a half pound to fifteen is about 
the average weight. 

Of wild fowl suitable for the table, ducks are 
the most abundant. There are several varieties. 
Almost the first thino; seen in comino; into the 
river, at its mouth, are flocks of ducks ; and they 
may be found all over the State, but especially on 
this river, which seems their favorite home. Wild 



128 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

geese are common in the season for them, but yet 
they go farther south as a rule. Indian-River 
country, some thirty miles eastward, is more fre- 
quented by them. Quails and partridges are often 
seen ; but the hawks and other birds of prey, so 
numerous here, keep them from increasing their 
numbers to any great extent. 

Enterprise is the paradise for sporting-men. 
For invalids to discuss the respective merits of this 
or that place is proper, but there is no question 
where the huntsman or sporting-man should go. 
This place is their true head-quarters : none other 
equals or compares for a moment with it. Once 
here, they have a central point from which they 
can move at leisure, and return for repairs and 
rest. If it be fishing, the lake is before them, and 
they need not angle around half the day with a 
" fly " and no fish. It may be all very well for 
those who like it, to stand braced against a tree or 
sit silent as death in a boat, perspiring at a nibble, 
and catching nothing but a cold ; or possibly, if 
very lucky, bringing home a half-pound trout or 
two, scarce enough to smell of, much less to satisfy 
a ravenous appetite. This is the usual modicum 
of luck and result elsewhere, the Adirondacks not 



THE ORANGE-GROVE OF ENTERPRISE. 129 

excepted. But, when we go fislimg, we like to do 
a good business, both for ourselves and friends ; 
and here it can be done, for instead of a bag it is 
your boat full. The glory and delight w^hich 
thrill the nerves of such fishermen is royal and 
worth experiencing. 

Lakes Jessup and Harney, above, are also well 
stocked with fish of excellent quality, which are 
easily caught by nets, hooks, and spears.* A very 
attractive sight at Enterprise is the orange-orchard 
standing at the left of the wharf, and owned by 
Capt. Brock, who is also proprietor of the hotel, 
and, for that matter, of every thing else of any ac- 
count at Enterprise, not excepting the steamboat 
line which brings you and on which you have to 
return. This grove is a very handsome one, and 
covers a couple of acres across the roadway from 
the hotel. The trees are of fine size, and very 
pretty in appearance. There was some fruit still 
hanging, large and golden, but valueless, its juice 
having dried away, though the exterior was fair 
and plump-appearing. In the tops of the trees, 
blossoms could be seen at the time of our visit, 
and another fall they will again be loaded. There 

* Letter of Solon Robinson, in Tribune. 



130 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

are a few lemons in this grove, and also some of 
the sour orange. These doubtless are left for 
variety's sake ; though the lemons are as profitable 
and useful as the orange, but not so commonly 
grown. 

Capt. Brock built and founded this new 
" Enterprise," and ran his line of steamers, 
determined to make it pay ; and he is now able to 
realize the fruit of his persevering toll. The 
past year the house has been crowded, the appli- 
cants being double the number that could be 
entertained. Old Enterprise is, as we have al- 
ready remarked, about a mile above, on the lake- 
shore. This was formerly the place ; but Brock, 
having the steamers, had the power to establish 
a successful rival. Old Enterprise is nevertheless 
the place where Brock's hotel and orange-grove 
should be, as it is higher, and has from fifty to one 
hundred acres of cleared lands in a condition for 
cultivation ; whereas at Brock's Enterprise, beyond 
his garden and orange-orchard, there is not one 
acre of thoroughly cleared land that we observed. 
Old Enterprise has an orange-grove too ; but it is 
scattering and in no wise particularly attractive. 
Dr. Stark, its occupant and owner, though a 



CLIMATE AT ENTERPRISE. 131 

Southern sympathizer during the war, as we 
learned, is, nevertheless, a very courteous and 
intelhgent gentleman. If a hotel were erected on 
this old site, with bathing-rooms supplied with 
water from the large spring just back of his 
grounds, — of which we shall hereafter speak, — 
it could not fail to take its share of the winter 
travel. 

Enterprise is the point at which passengers land 
who are bound for New Smyrna, Musquito Inlet, 
Hillsborough, or Indian River on the sea-coast, and 
directly eastward, a score and a half of miles from 
this place. 

There the banana, fig, and pine-apple are seen, 
and the coffee-plant grows wild and luxuriant. 
You may revel in the delights of earth, and wish, 
as De Leon did three hundred years before you, 
for some fountain or fruit of which to taste, and 
live for ever in the possession of youth, giving 
beauty a second consideration entirely. 

The chmate at Enterprise is perceptibly milder 
than at any point below. This is not greatly to be 
wondered at, perhaps, since every hundred miles 
south, when so near the tropics, makes a distin- 
guishable difference, — far more marked than the 



132 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

same distance southward in the Northern States. 
The winter here is not unlike in temperature the 
month of May in New England. "We find that 
fires are comfortable and necessary evenings in 
February at Enterprise, and they are also equally 
necessary in June in the Connecticut Valley. 
The health of people all over our country would 
be much improved, and many cases of fevers pre- 
vented, were small fires started in the evening, 
during most of the spring and fall months. 




CHAPTER IX. 



CELEBRATED SPRINGS. 



The Green Spring at Old Enterprise. — Its Great Depth. — Tropical 
Scenes. — The Towering Palm. — Silver Springs on the Ockla- 
waha. — The Blue Spring near Lake Berresford. — Bartram's 
Account of this Spring. — The Spring at Green Cove. 

The springs throughout Florida are numerous, 
and many are quite remarkable. They form one 
of the wonders of the State. 

At Enterprise, every visitor seeks the famous 
spring of this locality. It is nearly a mile south- 
ward from the hotel, and we have the choice of 
two ways by which it may be reached ; and they 
are quite like the Irishman's roads, for, whichever 
one you take, you will be likely to wish you had 
taken the other. One is by the beach, where 
little swails and sluices, emptying into the lake, 
have to be leaped in wet weather ; the other is 
back of the hotel, — a winding cart-path among the 
low scrub palmettoes and tall long-leaved pines, 
then through a clump of magnolias, gums, water- 

133 



134 A WINTER IN FLOEIDA. 

oaks, and sweet bays, with the towering palm 
shootino; straight into the air as an arrow for 
ninety feet, capped by its globe of green. We pass 
a wilderness of jungle and forest and vines and 
wild flowers, without name and number. The 
air is soft and tropical ; and the scene is what we 
might easily fancy a Brazilian forest to be, lack- 
ing only in the flashing eye-balls of some crouching 
animal, to light up the jungles by which our cir- 
cuitous pathway leads. Turning suddenly aside, 
across a clearing into the woods beyond, and we 
stand at the spring. It is circular in form, and 
nearly eighty feet in diameter ; and its surface is 
as smooth and unrippling as if congealed. The 
water is of a delicate green and quite transparent. 
Its depth is said to be full an hundred feet. No 
living thing was seen in its w^aters, which are 
sulphurous, though not markedly so. Its taste, 
however, was not especially pleasant; and we 
should prefer good clear spring-water to it, for 
purposes of health. It might serve a good use 
for bathing ; but it is, in all respects, far inferior 
to the healthful crystal spring at Green Cove, 
which is employed by citizens and strangers for 
every domestic use, and as a healthful tonic. This 



SILVER SPEING. 135 

spring is not now used, and we observed no signs 
of its having been by any one. It is simply a 
curiosity, and is visited as such. An expert 
swimmer might bathe in it, but none others, since 
its shores are as deep as its center, and it is quite 
forbidding in view of its depth and color. A 
small outlet, six feet wide and as many inches in 
depth, carries the wastage waters to the lake, a 
third of a mile distant. 

Our party grouped themselves for a few 
moments, long enough to hang this Oriental 
scene in memory ; then, gathering a few wild 
branches as mementoes to our friends away on the 
banks of the White Water and the Ohio, the 
Hudson and the Delaware Rivers, returned, via 
Old Enterprise, to our hotel. 

We have spoken in a preceding chapter of the 
beautiful Silver Spring on the Ocklawaha River. 
That is a great basin of surpassingly clear and 
deep water. Springs of salt water, and springs 
of mineral water, are not uncommon in various 
sections of the State. They are all usually of a 
tepid character, standing at about seventy-seven 
degrees, we should judge, having frequently bathed 
in them, although we never subjected any of them 



136 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

to the test of the thermometer. These springs are 
usually near the rivers or lakes, and occasionally 
they have been discovered boiling up in the lake- 
waters. Mr. Solon Robinson relates having passed 
over one while sailing in a small boat along the 
shores of Lake George, and gives currency to the 
report of springs being found oflP the coast of St. 
Augustine, which is not unlikely, when we con- 
sider the peculiar character of the peninsular 
formation. 

Right in the middle of the St. John's River 
up toward Lake Harney, there boils up a 
tremendous spring, which makes a conspicuous 
turbulence on its bosom, — enough to shake the 
steamer ; and, in ordinary stages of the river, this 
spring lifts its waters visibly above the surface. 
The captain stated he had sounded it to a depth 
of three hundred feet, and found no bottom ! 
Lake Jessup, on its western shore, has several 
large sulphur springs. This lake can not be 
entered by a boat drawing over three feet of 
water. It is some seventeen miles long by five 
in width, with shallow waters generally. Its 
shores are low and marshy, as a rule ; but here 
and there are drv shell-banks on which the wild 



THE BLUE SPRING. 137 

orange grows. Some miles to the west, how- 
ever, the land is better, being higher and 
healthier. 

One of the most famous springs in the State, 
perhaps, is but a few miles south of Enterprise. It 
is known as the Blue Spring; but among the inhabi- 
tants, here, all springs are called blue springs, little 
mattering what the real shade of color may hap- 
pen to be. This spring is on the east side of the 
river, near Lake Berresford, and empties into the 
St. John's a half-mile from the steamboat landing. 
It is perhaps the largest spring m the State : the 
quantity of water which issues from it in an hour is 
enormous. It forms a river of itself, one hundred 
and fiftv feet Avide and six deep ; sufficiently large 
to admit the passage of a considerable craft. The 
water boils up out of the earth as though from a 
boiling caldron of four-score feet across. An 
excursion party from Jacksonville tried to row a 
boat into the center of this boiling kettle, in order 
to take soundings, but were foiled, after several 
earnest effi^rts, in consequence of the violent mo- 
tion of the elevated surface. 

A trip to this spring is a pleasant and easy ex- 
cursion with the little steamer " Hattie." 



138 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

With a quaint account by Bartram of a spring 
he observed, we shall close what we have to say 
under this head. 

He says, . . . "On my right, and all around 
behind me, was a fruitful orange-grove, with palms 
and magnolias interspersed ; in front, near my feet, 
was the enchanting and amazing crystal fountain, 
which incessantly threw up, from dark rocky cav- 
erns below, tons of water every minute, forming a 
basin capacious enough for large shallops to ride 
in, and a creek of four or five feet depth of water, 
and nearly twenty yards over, which meanders 
six miles through green meadows, pouring its 
limpid waters into the great Lake George, where 
they seem to remain pure and unmixed. About 
twenty yards from the upper edge of the basin, 
and directly opposite to the mouth, or outlet, of the 
creek, is a continual and amazing ebullition, where 
the waters are thrown up in such abundance and 
great force, as to jet and swell up two or three 
feet above the common surface ; while sand and 
small particles of shells are thrown up with the 
waters near to the top, subside with the expanding 
flood, and gently sink again, forming a large rim, 
or funnel, round about the aperture, or mouth, of 



A STOEY BY BAETRAM. 139 

the fountain, which is a vast perforation through a 
bed of rocks, the ragged points of which are 
projected out on every side. . . . The waters 
are so extremely clear as to be absolutely diaph- 
anous as the ether ; the margin of the creek (?) is 
shaded by a great variety of fruitful and flowering 
shrubs and trees, the pendent golden orange dan- 
cing on the surface of the waters, and the songs of 
merry birds vibrating through all the trees. Below, 
innumerable bands of fish are seen, some clothed 
in the most brilliant colors ; the voracious crocodile, 
stretched alono; at full length like the trunk of a 
tree ; the devouring gar-fish, trout, all the varie- 
ties of gilded bream, catfish, sting-ray, skate, and 
flounder, spotted bass (trout), sheep's-head, and 
drum, all in separate bands, and circling in peace- 
ful evolutions with none of their usual signs of 
enmity .... See whole companies of these fish 
descend into the abyss ; they entirely disappear : 
are they gone for ever ? . . . . Looking intently 
to observe if they returned, when, lo ! they were 
seen emerging from the depths, apparently at a 
vast distance, as they at first seemed no bigger 
than flies or minnows ; now gradually enlarging, 
and rising rapidly, they ride forth with the elastic, 



140 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

expanding column of crystalline v/aters, and gently 
move each to their kindred tribes to re-form and 
renew the sport. This scene seems unreal, since 
it appears that you are at times able to almost 
grasp the fish as they rise toward the surface, 
when in fact they are thirty feet away." 

Though we have spoken in a previous chapter 
of the spring at Green Cove, yet to omit mention 
of it here would be an injustice, not for any thing 
remarkable about it as seen by the beholder, but 
for its hio;h value as a remedial ao-ent. In this 
particular, it excels all others with which we are 
acquainted. Its water is pure and pleasant, and 
has the credit of having cured some invalids and 
greatly benefited many others. Its depth is such 
that any one may bathe in it without fear, and the 
use of the water increases the appetite and 
strengthens the system. Indeed, this is the only 
spring with which we are familiar in this State 
that has any reputation as a curative agent. 
Being located within the village of Green Cove on 
the St. John's River, it is accessible to those in 
feeble health as well as the robust, and all may be 
benefited by its use ; though, in this matter, it is 
proper for the invalid to consult with his medical 



SPEING AT GEEEN COVE. 141 

adviser, since in some cases, doubtless, its use 
would be injudicious. 

Springs abound in all portions of the State, in 
tlie western as well as the eastern section ; and 
they are all of more or less interest as curiosities, 
and will well repay the tourist. 




CHAPTEPv X. 

ALLIGATOR-SHOOTING ON THE UPPER ST. JOHn'S. 

Tlie Steamer " Hattie.'' — Sportsmen on Lake Harney and beyond.— 
What they bagged. — The Grandfather of all the Alligators. — 
Difficulty of killing them. — Their Display of Gymnastics. — The 
Party camp for the Night. — A Thrilling Scene. — Our " John." 
— A Wild Night of it. — The jNIorning Alligator Reveille. — Ee- 
flections. 

There is a small steamer, the little " Hattie," 
wliicli runs to accommodate limiting or pleasure 
parties above Enterprise, and can make the run to 
Lake Harney and back in a single day. Toodles 
would have set an inestimable value on this 
pocket-craft, as, indeed, do scores of people who 
come to Lake Monroe. She can be chartered for 
any length of time ; and, if there are a half-dozen 
to go, it is not expensive, as the cost does not ex- 
ceed the price of board at a first-class hotel. We 
know of a hunting-party composed of New York- 
ers and Baltimoreans, who proceeded to Lake 
Harney, and beyond, as far as it was possible with 

142 



ALLIGATOR SHOOTING. 143 

safety to take the little steamer. All were well 
equipped with arms, ammunition, and provisions. 
Their brightest expectations were fully realized. 
Game of all kinds was found in great abundance. 
They shot twenty-seven deer and one hundred 
and sixty-two alligators, not to mention any thing 
of smaller game. They returned bronzed and 
dehghted, and with an increase of avoirdupoise. 
All who come as high as Enterprise should come 
to take a hunt, and try the lake-fishing. 

Alligator shooting is among the finest of sports, 
and besides is strange and pleasing to most visitors, 
who, fresh from Northern snows and ice, take to 
the fun with a rare relish. A bright day is 
necessary : such was the one chosen, when, with a 
small company, we set sail for the mouth of the 
river on the south side of Lake Monroe. " The 
Hattie " puffed vigorously across the lake, but, en- 
tering the river, " slowed," and quit her " wheez- 
ing:" all assembled on deck, and, with rifles 
plenty, we had not long to watch for the am- 
phibious monsters. They are soon seen swimming 
across our bows, or lying lazily on the shores as is 
their habit ; when, crack, bang, and pop, go the 
rifles, and an alligator flounders down from the 



144 A WINTER IN FLOEIDA. 

sliore into the water. Some times a half-dozen 
bullets would strike the monster at about one 
and the same time ; and the huge beast would 
writhe in agony, lashing the reed-grass with his 
powerful tail, and lurch into the dark waters with 
a despairing and desperate plunge. Again a lucky 
or scientific shot back of the fore-arm would bring 
the scarlet tide, when with a sudden whirl upon his 
back, and with uplifted, quivering limbs, he was 
off to the land of shades without further ado. 
These cases were valued, since it afforded an 
opportunity to draw up to the shore, land, and de- 
capitate the giant, bringing his head away, not 
only as a trophy, but for the purpose of practicing 
at our leisure a little dentistry on his teeth ; and 
in time these became, in the hands of some 
expert, a beautiful whistle, or, carved into various 
forms, were prized as charms. 

At first our shots were wild, owing to the 
excitement : soon all became practiced, and could 
aim the deadly missiles with rare exactness ; 
yet comparatively few were killed outright, 
thouo-h numbers were wounded. This was 
attributable to our finding the majority of them 
in the water ; for, hearing us, they would slip off 



THE FATHER OF ALLIGATORS. 145 

of the bank and float on tlie surface, wlien nothing 
could be seen but their head just above the water. 
It takes a keen and practiced eye to detect an alhga- 
tor, they so closely resemble a rotten log half sub- 
merged and motionless. 

If a ball enters their eye squarely, they are 
finished; but to do this is difficult. A good 
loud rap on their heads can be given them, how- 
ever ; and the way the water flies when they are 
thus hit and hurt is both amusing and wonderful. 
It is beaten into a perfect foam ere they plunge 
from sight. One was a mighty fellow. He was 
seen at a distance, lying on the marshy banks at 
the bend of a river, and appeared the great grand- 
father of all the alligators. Experience had taught 
him it wasn't safe to wait for excursion parties, 
and he began to move "early;" but our crack 
marksman drew a bead on him, and at the vital 
spot. Halting to take a final observation before 
making a plunge, the sharp crack of the rifle, and 
a dull thud for the echo, told the story. His delay 
had proved fatal, and he went down to his grave 
with a gorgeous display of gymnastics. Suddenly 
throwing up his fore-arm, he rung down the cur- 
tain and his own life at the same time. 

10 



146 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

The day passed rapidly by, and the party 
decided to tie up for the night, and continue the 
sport another day. Passing on to a dry shore, we 
made our camp in a grove of the wild orange, 
and under the towering palm. It was a lovely 
place for our purpose. Those who preferred 
remained on board, while full half of the 
company pitched the fly-tent, and prepared a 
faggot fire, wherewith to cook our fish-supper. 
This was soon accomplished, and as soon disposed 
of; for what will sharpen appetites better than a 
day upon the water, full of excitement, frolic, and 
fun ! A few sauntered back inland among the 
maples and magnolias for game, and were not 
long in starting a flock of wild turkeys from 
among the tall trees, where they were about going 
to roost. A little management was required to 
secure a good shot at the cock-turkey ; two of us 
agreeing to fire at a given signal from the third, 
and he to follow with his rifle if we missed. 
The distance was considerable, and at quite an ele- 
vation; but, at the word "Fire," the bouncing gob- 
bler came to the ground, the balance of the flock 
scaling away from our sight and reach. Shoulder- 
ing our Thanksgiving-bird, we reached camp, and 



A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE IN CAMP. 147 

were congratulated heartily by our companions. 
Ere long the moon, full and clear, swung itself above 
the tree-tops, and all joined in some stirring 
melodies that woke the echoes of the woods and 
surrounding shores. A few branches and leaves 
from the palmetto served, with a blanket over- 
spread, for our bed. 

In the night we were all aroused by the hoot- 
ing owls ; and such a din ! A dozen barking pups 
would have been out-matched. " John " decided to 
give them a salute with his double-barrelled gun, 
and, rising to reach it, imagine his feelings, and 
ours as well, for it was but a moment after his 
discovery that he telegraphed^ by a vigorous kick, 
the news to us. Not over ten feet away was a 
good-sized and every way respectable-looking 
"gaitor," paying his addresses to our proposed 
breakfast, the turkey, which was hanging to a 
low limb of an orange-tree close by. How long 
he had been there we did not know ; or how long 
it would have been ere he would have snapped up 
our poor gobbler, or swallowed a pair of boots 
with John's feet in them ! it would be difficult to 
determine ; but that crocodile was hardly ex- 
pecting such an emphatic greeting. Our rising 



148 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

had evidently checked his progress toward the 
turkey ; for now his eyes were turned fully upon 
us, as if unable to make out whether we were 
friend or foe. His suspense was brief: a moment 
fully undeceived him. Such a crash of minnie- 
balls and buck-shot as landed in among ^' his 
horns " was totally unexpected. His manner 
indicated as much ; for in a trice he performed the 
" Grecian," and tilted endwise into the river, with 
such a roar and splash of water as v/e never 
heard before. The owls were silenced, and dis- 
turbed no more our camp. We voted them 
unanimous thanks ; and, placing a guard, tumbled 
down into our nest. But slumber came not, 
though the morning did, when we expeditiously 
roasted and ate our turkey, and sailed away 
down stream, giving vengeful shots at the roaring 
monsters, who were now heard in all directions 
bellowing like bulls. This noise they frequently 
make in the early morning of a warm day ; and, 
to those first experiencing it, it strikes alarm : but 
tliis soon passes away. 

We steam on, and past what were, a hundred 
years ago, plantations of indigo and cane, owned 
and cultivated by the Spaniards ; past sites of 



EEFLECTIONS. 149 

cities and villages of the aboriginal races, where 
now the tall pine and bright-leaved magnolia and 
sweet-bay flourish. Then past the pleasant 
shores and the extending savannas, half sub- 
merged, and dotted all over with sleeping islands ; 
then by the quaint capes and headlands, all 
glorified by the rising, cloudless sun, our thoughts 
alternately enrapt by the gushing songs of the 
morning birds, and the remembrance of the tide 
of human life that swept the bosom of this river 
centuries ago, where now none but a few curious 
and idle visitors sail pensively over its waters. 




CHAPTER XT. 

ST. AUGUSTINE. 

How to get there. — The Way we went. — The Hon. ]\Irs. Yelverton. 
— A Successful Expeinment. — " Duroc " and " Fu-e-Fly." — The 
Stage-Driver. — The FerryiTian's Fu-e. — Across the St. Sebastian 
Eiver. — Midnight and St. Augustine. — The Florida House. — 
Quaint Appearance of the City. — The Coquina Rock. — Fort 
Marion. — The Cathedral and Plaza. — The Minorcans. — Tropi- 
cal Fruits. — A Hotel wanted. 

Having returned to Picolata from the charming 
scenes and wild adventures of the upper and the 
incomparable river, we now, with a dozen of fellow- 
travelers, turn our faces eastward toward the 
ocean and to St. Augustine. There are two ways 
of reaching this, the oldest city in America, and 
the Mecca of all Florida tourists. One is by the 
steamer " Henry Burden," from Jacksonville, 
do^vn the river and round the sea-coast, — a run 
of perhaps eiglit hours ; sometimes a smooth pas- 

150 



THE EOUTE TO ST. AUGUSTINE. 151 

sage, and again a somewhat rougli one. To those 
who do not disHke a sea-voyage, this is a veiy 
pleasant trip. The price of passage is four dol- 
lars each way. Only weekly trips are made, 
leaving Jacksonville in the latter part of the week 
and returning the following day. 

The other route is to take a river-boat, — and 
they are to be had nearly every day, or every other 
day, at Jacksonville, — and proceed up the river 
to Picolata, then across the country eighteen miles 
by stage-line. The fare this w^ay is two dollars 
on the steamer, and three dollars from Picolata by 
stage. The fare by the outside line is reasonable, 
since the steamer runs to accommodate that partic- 
ular travel ; while by river-boats it ought not to 
exceed one-half their present rates, as these boats 
do not run on the river solely for this travel. 
Then, again, the stage-fare is fully one-third in ex- 
cess of paying-rates.* 

* Since wi-iting the above, we are informed that the St. John's Rail- 
road is being built, and will run between St. Augustine and Tocoi, on 
the river, forty miles above Jacksonville, in time to accommodate the 
travel of the coming season. Of couse, this will then be the route 
for travelers proceeding to St. Augustine, via Jacksonville, thence by 
steamer to Tocoi, thence by rail across. 



152 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

Picolata, as we have remarked in a preceding 
chapter, is simply a settlement of one family — 
nothing more. If the reader were to take passage 
on the Pacific Railway, and get off at the last new 
made and named station anywhere along its entire 
length, he could not well be left more in the woods 
than travelers are left at this toivn of Picolata. 
But what of its history? Next perhaps to St. 
Augustine itself, it was among the earliest fouixled 
of all the Spanish settlements. Two hundred and 
fifty years ago, there were more white people 
stationed and trading here than we find to-day. 
It grew to be in a hundred years, under the Span- 
ish rule, a town of more than a hundred dwellings 
and shops. It was the main artery of supply for 
the up-country, and chief channel for the return 
of all articles of export, including furs, indigo, 
sugar, and fruit. Crossing over to St. Augustine, 
these were sent in trading-vessels home to Spain. 
The order of Franciscans erected here an impos- 
ing church edifice ; and within its walls assembled 
the devotees of Spain and the Pope, together with 
the proselyted savage, still plumed and decked in 
his wild costume. But, of all this ancient civiliza- 
tion, scarce a vestige remains : by savage wars and the 



OLD FORTIFICATIONS. 153 

desolation and destruction of towns and missions 
and plantations, together with the changes in gov- 
ernment, the transformation has been made com- 
plete ; and now the original w^ilderness every- 
where covers the State, and as nearly primeval as 
in the time of Adam. 

Opposite Picolata, on the western shore, is a 
mark of these olden times that has however 
withstood the leveling influence of the past. It is 
a great earthwork fort, with its sharp angles 
smoothed and round, yet still evidencing its origi- 
nal strength and power. Its w^alls must have been 
twenty feet in heighth, and were constructed en- 
tirely of the surrounding earth. It is now over- 
grown with grand old oaks, deep rooted in its 
walls, and the wild birds and beasts have made 
here their home. 

Those who have been beguiled into reading the 
small volume on St. Augustine, said to have been 
written by Mrs. Yelverton, will be doomed to a 
bitter disappointment in the plain, and somewhat 
unromantic and uninteresting stage-ride, which 
she, in her volume, has made so marvelously 
enchanting. She exhausts the vocabulary of 
flowers and sentiment quite, in her florid delinea- 



154 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

tion of what the country is, or was. We found 
this ride of eio;hteen miles one of the most disa- 
greeable and miserable we ever made, and 
through a tract of country entirely devoid of 
unusual attractions. 

After a protracted delay, the stage and horses 
were ready ; and such Kozinantes as they were, 
too, — just fit to be knocked in the head by a 
windmill, and so starved-looking as to suggest 
the thought that they were the very horses which 
are said, after considerable experimenting, to have 
been successfully taught to live without eating. 
The drivers seemed a cross between the lazaroni 
of Italy and the village loafer. Our party was 
too large to be all carried in a single coach, and 
an old rheumatic wagon, without seats or covering, 
was tied up, and braced with sticks, for the 
journey. The trunks served for seats ; and, thus 
equipped, we set out upon our winding way. It 
was five o'clock in the afternoon when we started ; 
and at half-past ten that night, we struck the 
ferry, just outside the old walls of St. Augustine. 
The reader can imagine the speed we came the 
eighteen miles. The prospect bade fair at one 
time for us to camp among the pines, along the 



THE STAGE-RIDE. 155 

roadside. Our horses, ''Duroc" and ^'Fire-fly," 
were no ^'Dexters." They had, as we have 
observed, learned to hve without eating; but, 
hauKna: a wao-on eio;hteen miles through the sand, 
they had not calculated upon, in connection with 
their abstemious habits. Their wind gave out ; 
and, having no special knowledge of time or tune, 
they got off irregularly, first *' Duroc," and then 
" Fire-fly," shot a neck ahead. The lumbering 
coach behind us fared no better. Their four 
horses were reduced to three, one having been 
turned out to grass^ we were about to say, but 
that would be an imposition on the dumb beast, 
and we have the fear of Bergh before our eyes, — 
it was out to sand, Spanish bayonets and pine- 
trees. For our part, we should have preferred 
the sand, of the three, as that did appear white 
and almost palatable, even to ourselves ; for we 
had tasted nothing since noon, and it was fast 
approaching midnight, ta say nothing of the 
appetizing effects of our eighteen-mile ride in a 
lumber-wagon with trunks for seats ! In our 
younger days we have read of the lonely traveler 
on the desert, who afar off descried a faint light 
that cheered him on, and brought him safely to 



156 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

shelter and to rest. We think all had a lively 
sense of appreciation of this traveler's gratitude, 
when we hailed the light of the ferryman's fire 
burnino; on the roadside in front of his cabin. 
Even the poor jaded horses took courage, and 
absolutely dashed forward at an unaccountable 
rate. Across the St. Sebastian River, on the 
rope-ferry, and a rapid drive through the dark 
and narrow streets, and we were ushered into the 
Florida House, tired, and hungry, and battered. 
A plain, comfortable, clean room w^ould have 
been a luxury : it was what we had hoped for, a 
place to lay our bones for a refreshing sleep ; but 
this was not on the programme. We were told 
the house was filled, and the tow^n crowded, but 
we could have a room. Dispatching a hurried 
meal, we were showm through the house and 
across the yard, up a rickety pair of stairs, to a 
filthy room over the dirty kitchen, the former 
"negro quarters," and with a stinking black lamp, 
that had been innocent of soap and water since it 
fell into its proprietor's possession. Left here in 
this indecent room, with a flavor of onions and 
stews from below, and a sickening odor of bugs 
above, our first impressions of St. Augustine were 



A DIETY HOTEL. 157 

likely to have a rather biased and unpleasant col- 
oring. Determined not to be considered a groivler^ 
and feeling too stupid to become properly enraged, 
we concluded to stay in that room, and we did. 

A comfortable breakfast improved our condi- 
tion ; and, not wishing to cultivate the further 
acquaintance of the lazy and incompetent young 
man who was the only landlord we saw, we left 
for private lodgings. 

We have in the historical review of Florida, in 
the earlier chapters, given a comparatively full and 
accurate account of the settlement and history of 
this ancient town. To these chapters the reader 
is referred for historical details. More than half 
a century prior to the landing of the Plymouth 
colony, this was a town of considerable reputation, 
and long before 1620 was a fortified stronghold, 
challenging the stoutest navies on the globe. 

The appearance of St. Augustine to the visitor 
is as quaint and peculiar as its history is bloody and 
remarkable. Nothing like it is seen in this coun- 
try ; and, having been built by a people so entirely 
diflPerent in manners and customs from our own, it 
has been surrounded with an interest not shared 
by any otiier city in the land. 



158 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

For a sketch of tliis old city, we prefer to give 
that written by Rev. H. Clay Trumbull, in " The 
Springfield Republican," though we can hardly 
share all his sentiments regarding this antiquated 
and dilapidated town. 

" Its principal building material is a unique 
conglomerate of fine shells and sand, known as 
coquina rock, found in large quantities on Anas- 
tasia Island, at the entrance of the harbor, and 
which is easily cut in blocks to be laid in courses, 
and perhaps covered over with stucco. The 
streets are quite narrow ; one, which is nearly a 
mile long, being but fifteen feet wide, and that on 
which a principal hotel stands being but twelve 
feet, while the widest of all is but twenty-five 
feet. An advantage of these narrow streets in 
this warm climate is, that they give shade, and 
increase the draft of air through them as through 
a flue. Indeed, some of the streets seem almost 
like a flue, rather than an open way ; for many 
of the houses, with high roof and dormer win- 
dows, have hanging balconies along their second 
story, which seem almost to touch each other 
over the narrow street ; and the families sitting 
in these of a warm evening can chat confidential- 



ST. AUGUSTINE. 159 

iy, or even shake hands with their over-the-way 
neighbors. 

" The street walls of the houses are frequently 
extended in front of the side garden, — the house 
roof, and perhaps a side balcony, covering this 
extension ; or the houses are built around un- 
covered courts, so that, passing through the main 
door of a building, you find yourself still in the 
open air, instead of within the dwelling. These 
high and solid garden walls are quite common 
along the principal streets ; and an occasional 
latticed door gives you a peep into the attractive 
area beyond the massive structure,* with perhaps a 
show of huge stone arches, or of a winding stair- 
case between heavy stone columns, or of a profu- 
sion of tropical vegetation in the winter garden, 
brmging to mind the stories in poem and romance 
of the loves of Spanish damsels, and of stolen 
interviews at the garden gate, or elopements by 
means of the false key or the bribed porter. The 
principal streets were formerly well paved or 
floored with shell concrete, portions of which are 
still to be seen above the shifting sand ; and this 
flooring was so carefully swept, that the dark-eyed 
maidens of old Castile, who then led in society 



160 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

here, could pass and repass without soiling their 
satin slippers. No rumbling wheels were per- 
mitted to crush the firm road-bed, or to whirl the 
dust into the airy verandas, where, in undis- 
turbed repose, sat the indolent Spanish dons and 
dames. 

" Built as a mihtary town, the city was formerly 
walled across its northern end ; which sufficiently 
protected it, as it stands on a peninsula nearly 
surrounded by the St. Sebastian Iliver and St. 
Augustine Bay. The gateway of the old wall 
still stands, and is quite an imposing ruin, with 
ornamented lofty towers and loopholed sentry- 
boxes. The ditch before the old wall (or possi- 
bly it was a stockade, except at the gateways) is 
clearly marked, and even yet partially filled at 
high tides. It runs from shore to shore, and was 
evidently broad and deep. The old fort, once 
called San Juan, then St. Marco, but now known as 
Fort Marion, is a curiosity. It stands on the sea- 
front, at the upper end of the town, the wall or 
stockade formerly running from it to the gateway, 
and west to the river. Its material is the inevita- 
ble coquina rock. It was a hundred years in 
building. While owned by the British, it was said 



rORT MARION. 161 

to be the " prettiest fort in tlie king's dominions." 
Its castellated battlements ; its formidable bastions, 
with their frowning guns ; its lofty and imposing 
sally-port, surrounded by the royal Spanish arms ; 
its portcullis, moat, drawbridge ; its circular and 
ornate sentry-boxes at each principal parapet-angle, 
its commanding look-out tower ; and its stained and 
moss-grown massive walls, — impress the external 
observer as a relic of the distant past ; while a 
ramble through its heavy casemates ; its crumbling 
Komish chapel, with elaborate portico and inner 
altar and holy-water niches ; its dark passages, 
gloomy vaults, and more recently discovered 
dungeons, — brings you to ready credence of its 
many traditions of inquisitorial tortures, of decay- 
ing skeletons found in the latest-opened chambers 
chained to the rusty ringbolts, and of alleged 
subterranean passages to the neighboring convent. 
" These stories lose none of their force by being 
recited in the fitful light of the dim lamp of your 
military guide, as you follow him into the damp 
and noisome recesses to the echo of your own foot- 
fall or the grating lock and creaking hinge of the 
slow-swinging ancient doors. IMany a dark tally- 
list on the moldering walls, or a rudely-executed 
11 



162 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

sketch, shows how the dragging days were noted 
or employed by weary prisoners of long ago ; and 
the narrow loopholes are shown through which the 
two Seminole chiefs attempted their escape, one 
makino; it 2i;ood, and the other stickino; fast in the 
crevice until he was rescued with barely his life 
remaining. At the time of Gen. Oglethorpe's 
attack on St. Augustine, the old fort, or castle as 
it was then called, stood a bombardment of thirty- 
eight days from batteries erected on Anastasia 
Island. But the injury to the fort was only slight ; 
for the spongy walls of coquina received and im- 
bedded the heavy shot, as would the embankment 
of a modern earthwork. The marks left by the 
shot are plainly seen to-day. But time is at length 
doincr its work with the old fort. Its walls are 
showing huge fissures, and on recent inspection it 
was declared unfit for further defensive service. 

" In the buildings of the town are some remains 
of elegance, as well as much of antiquity. The 
cathedral is unique, witli its belfry in the form of 
a section of a bell-shaped pyramid, its chime of 
four bells in separate niches, and its clock, together 
formino; a cross. The oldest of these bells is 
marked 1682. The old convent of St. Mary's is 



ST. AUGUSTINE. 163 

a suggestive relic of the days of papal rule. The 
new convent is a tasteful building of the ancient 
coquina. The United-States barracks, recently 
remodeled and improved, are said to have been 
built as a convent or monastery. The old govern- 
ment house, or palace, is now in use as the post- 
office and United-States court-rooms. At its rear 
is a well-preserved relic of what seems to have * 
been a fortification to protect the town from an 
over-the-river or inland attack. An older house 
than this, formerly occupied by the attorney-gen- 
eral, was pulled down a few years ago. Its ruins 
are still a curiosity, and are called (though incor- 
rectly) the governor's house. 

" The ' Plaza de la Constitution ' is a fine pub- 
lic square in the center of the town, on which 
stand the ancient markets, and which is faced by 
the cathedral, the old palace, the convent, a mod- 
ern Episcopal church, and other fine structures. 
In the center of the plaza stands a monument 
erected in honor of the Spanish Liberal Constitu- 
tion. When the Constitution was abolished, these 
monuments in all dominions of the crown were to 
be destroyed ; but a compromise was effected on 
this by the removal of the inscribed tablets. On 



164 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

tlie cession of Florida to tlie United States, the 
long-concealed tablets were brought from their 
hiding-places, and re-inserted in the monument. 
On this plaza were burned effigies of John Han- 
cock and Samuel Adams, early in our Revolution, 
while the British held Florida. 

" The old Huguenot burying-ground is a spot of 
t much interest ; so is the military burying-ground 
where rest the remains of those who fell near here 
during the prolonged Seminole war. Under three 
pyramids of coquina, stuccoed and whitened, are 
the ashes of Major Dade and one hundred and 
seven men of his command, who were massacred 
by Osceola and his band. A fine sea-wall of 
nearly a mile in length, built of coquina with a 
coping of granite, protects the entire ocean front 
of the city, and furnishes a delightful promenade 
of a moonho;ht evenino;. In full view of this is 
the old light-house on Anastasia Island, built more 
than a century ago, and now surmounted with a 
fine revolving lantern. 

" The street names, Cuna, St. Hypolita, Tolo- 
mato, St. George's and the like, have an ancient 
and a foreign smack about them ; while the family 
names, such as Dumas, Fatio, Hernandez, Oli- 



THE MINORCANS. 165 

verez, Alveres, Monardi, Segui, Andrea, Sanchez, 
Medices, and Bravo, mark it as any thing but 
American in its origin. Some of the Roman- 
Catholic customs of carnival and evening serenades 
before Easter are still kept up by the Minorcan 
population." 

A word as to these people, who constitute no in- 
considerable portion of the present population of 
St. Augustine. While Florida was in possession 
of the English, a Dr. Turnbull went to Greece, 
and received permission to transport such families 
as choose to f^o to Florida. Obtainino; a small 
number, not enough for his proposed colony, he 
halted at the islands of Corsica and Minorca in 
the Mediterranean, where over a thousand joined 
his company. They landed just mside of Mus- 
quito Inlet, at New Smyrna, some seventy-five 
miles south of St. Augustine. Turnbull soon be- 
came imperious, and by the aid of a few immediate 
friends reduced these patient, hard-working people 
to a state of slavery, assigning them tasks under 
overseers, and treating them in the most shameful 
manner. His promises of lands and creature 
comforts, made at the time of their joining his 
expedition, were disregarded, and with acquired 



166 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

wealth came added austerity and hardships for 
these now dependent people. Thus for nine years 
they were in bondage, when, stung to resistance, 
they assembled clandestinely, and marched in a 
body to St. Augustine, where they v/ere kindly 
received, and allowed to remain. They form a 
very quiet class, attentive to their own affairs, and 
never meddling with their neighbors. They are 
intelligent and industrious, and some have acquired 
considerable property. 

There are a few fine residences in St. Augus- 
tine ; and these, with their ample surroundings and 
beautiful gardens, give a heightened interest to the 
place. Senator Gilbert has a summer residence 
here, the first as you enter the town, by the bridge, 
on the right; then Buckingham Smith's, nearly 
opposite, and Dr. Bronson's on the plaza, with 
others, are beautiful homes. A profusion of tropi- 
cal plants and shrubs and trees ornament their 
grounds. Here the orange flourishes, and is 
abundant and delicious : several fine groves invite 
the visitor's inspection. The fig and date and 
palm and banana are all seen here, as also the lime 
and lemon, which grow to a great size, and the 
sweet and the wild olive ; the citron, the guava 



ST. AUGUSTINE. 167 

(from which a delicious jelly is made), and the 
pomegranate, are all indigenous. This is the home 
of the grape, and peaches luxuriate in this climate, 
as likewise the Japan plum. 

Besides the gardens spoken of, we see few flow- 
ers ; and this is what quite astonishes us in this 
"land of flowers," where they grow so easily, and 
with so little care that there seems no excuse why 
all the gardens should not have these simple yet 
beautiful adornino-s. 

For many years the town has been at a stand 
still, and property at a low figure. Good titles 
can with difficulty be obtained ; and this is now the 
great drawback to the improvement of the place, 
though within a few years Northern people have 
been coming in and taking such titles as were 
offered. One gentleman, Mr. Howard, from New 
York, has within a year past invested near fifty 
thousand dollars in real estate in the city, 
which is beginning to feel the effects of this health- 
ful influx, property having already risen to four- 
fold its value five years ago, and still not high. 
The residence of Senator Gilbert, before alluded 
to, was bought by him at the close of the war, as 
we are informed, for about eight thousand dollars, 



168 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

and we judge worth forty now. This place Imis 
several acres of ground m it. 

There is one thing the town lacks, and that is, 
a comfortable hotel. This it has not at present, 
though a more splendid opportunity never seemed 
to present itself. Hundreds visit this city during 
the season, and other hundreds are kept from 
coming in consequence of this lack. Our own 
experience attests the great want. There are 
three hotels here, so called ; but a respectable 
mechanic's and clerk's boarding-house at the North 
is, in most respects, their superior. The Florida 
House — well, it don't deserve either patronage 
or mention, except that it is now for sale ; the 
owners, not unlikely, having become tliemselves 
disgusted with it. The place for strangers is the 
private boarding-house, of which there are, luckily, 
quite a number ; and they seem so well patronized, 
that, to secure accommodations for any thing of a 
party, it is needful to make application a week be- 
fore your arrival. Mrs. Abbott's, Mrs. Gardner's, 
Madam Fatio's, and Mrs. Dummet's are among 
the best known, and are all pleasant homes, and 
furnish excellent accommodations, at about half 
the price of the hotels. There are a half-dozen 



A HOTEL WANTED. 169 

other private families, whose names do not so 
readily occur to us, but who are well known to 
the stage-lines, where visitors are quietl)^ pro- 
vided for and made comfortable. 

But, as we said, the great need is a hotel, not 
elegant nor expensive, but convenient in location 
and- arrangement, where the invalid and tourist 
may find a home. The season commences early in 
November, and ends in May, — full seven months 
in v/hich to reap a harvest ; and some remain the 
year round, finding the climate here less trying in 
summer than at the North. Every third man you 
meet from the North is arrano-ins; to build a hotel ; 
but since they do not grow of a night, like Jonah's 
gourd, why, St. Augustine will have to wait till 
one is built in the usual way. The last party 
who had shouldered the undertaking was a 
Baltimorian, w^ith a very Yankee countenance ; but 
what will come of it time will tell. Burns has 
written somethino; in relation to '' the best-laid 
plans of mice and men," &c. ; and, as we reflect, 
we have some doubts of the result of even this 
last project. If, however, St. Augustine wishes 
to become prosperous, and her citizens to accumu- 
late of this world's stores and to secure the annual 



170 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

influx of visitors, a new hotel is the first stepping- 
stone, and can not be lost sight of. The people of 
the place could afford to levy a tax for its erection, 
rather than it should ofo undone. This beino; ac- 
complished, with a railway from the city to Pico- 
lata, which was once graded, the tide of travel will 
be greatly increased.* 

The longer one remains in this antique town, 
the more he is attached to it : at least, this was 
our experience. It improves on acquaintance. 
The plaza, or public square, affords a pleasant 
retreat from the sand, which everywhere else 
covers the place. Here are shade-trees, and the 
firm green turf and benches, whereon the visitor 
may lounge, and idle away the hours. At the foot 
of the square, which fronts on the bay, is the 
market-house, so entirely different from those else- 
where seen ; being here neat, airy, and attractive. 
It consists of a roof supported by brick pillars, a 
half-dozen on either side, with a floor of the same 
material, and is altogether unique in appearance. 

The military band, on pleasant evenings, has 

* Since penning the above, we have been infoi*raed that the work of 
grading and tracli-laying on this proposed raih-oad has commenced with 
a prospect of its being finished this year. Its terminus, on the St. John's, 
is Tocoi. 



A PLEASANT DRIVE. 171 

been accustomed to assemble on this square, and 
discourse the national airs and other melodies, to 
the great delight of the people. This source of 
pleasure and amusement has ended, we regret to 
say, in consequence of a recent act of Congress, 
consolidating regiments, and reducing the number 
of military bands in the service. 

The number of strangers here greatly exceeded 
our expectations, and thronged in every street 
and public place. The fashionable belle of New- 
port and Saratoga, and the pale, thoughtful, and 
furloughed clergyman of New England, were at 
all points encountered. The meeting of friends 
whom wo had not seen for years, and others 
whom we had never met, but yet could call our 
name, seemed strange and quite a dream. 

Our visit being ended, and a few photographs 
secured of points of interest as mementoes, togeth- 
er with a cane of the pomegranate, presented by a 
friend, which he had cut from his garden, w^e com- 
menced our journey back over the road we came, 
to Picolata. It was a bright April morning ; and 
as we sped out of the city and over the St. 
Sebastian River, through the tliickets, and into the 
piny woods, a pang was felt at parting from the 



172 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

old city and our new-made friends. We had now 
the day before us, with new horses, a Hghter 
carriage, and a gayer company ; and what before 
was a tedious, wearing ride, was now made a 
pleasing journey of three hours, though among 
the inevitable pines, only here and there broken 
with clumps of clustering vines and overarching 
branches, whose friendly presence was owing to 
swampy places by which the roadway led. 

At Picolata w^e again hailed the river, where a 
steamer was in waiting to bear us on our journey. 




CHAPTER XII. 

THE CLIMATE. 

Influx of Visitors.— Who are benefited. — Necessity of Kecreation. — 
Cool Nights. — Thermometer ranges. — Earliest Frosts.— Steadi- 
ness of Climate.— The Trade-Winds.— The Time to visit Florida. 
— Statistics. — General Health of the People. — Care to be exer- 
cised. 

The chief interest, perhaps, that the State of 
Florida possesses for the people of the North, is 
its dehghtful chraate, and the reputed beneficial 
effects thereof on the health of certain classes 
of invalids. 

Its location is the most southern of any portion 
of the United States, and is the most tropical in 
character. Reaching almost to the tropical zone, 
and extending up to the thirty-first degree of 
latitude, its entire coast-lines are bathed by the 
warm Avaters of the surrounding seas ; while the 
gentle trade-winds cool and purify its atmosphere, 
making the peninsula, as a place of residence, 
both healthful and delightfuL 

173 



174 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

Invalids have long sought this portion of the 
Union ; and its general reputation has steadily 
increased, till now scores and hundreds annually 
migrate to some point in the State, as their predi- 
lections seem to favor : but as a rule a majority 
of them remain upon the St. John's River and its 
tributaries, or else upon the Atlantic coast at St. 
Augustine and the Indian-river country, which 
is an extensive inlet running very near and quite 
parallel to the seacoast at the central portion. 
The story was everywhere current along the 
river, that full fifty thousand people had, this 
last season, visited Florida. This, of course, 
included all classes : but we can scarce credit so 
large a statement ; and if we cut it down one-half, 
then the statement may be taken with some 
allowance for interested motives. There is no 
denying, however, that great numbers have 
visited the State within the winter 1868 and '69. 
The chief hotel in Charleston, S. C, the 
Charleston House, was kept crowded to its 
utmost capacity during the winter by this Florida 
travel. It may not be too much to say, that nine- 
tenths of all the arrivals at that house were on 
their way to or from that State. We mention 



OVER -WORKED PEOPLE. 175 

this as indicative of the growing and ah'eady 
great importance of the question as to the effects 
of the cKmate upon invahds and those who seek 
rest and recuperation from the steady and exact- 
ino; demands of business. There is needed amono; 
those who fill the various professions more of rest 
and play than they get. 

While we write, an eminent gentleman con- 
nected with one of the chief journals of the 
metropolis has been suddenly snatched away, in 
the full meridian of life, from over brain-work. 
To say that his was an impaired constitution 
would not be warranted, since he had a perfect 
physical organization, and, mentally, was as well 
balanced as any man we ever knew. Mr. Ray- 
mond possessed an intellect of the very highest 
order, and practical talents exceeded by but few 
in the history of our leading men, together with a 
capacity for steady mental exertion beyond all 
others ; and yet this noble man fell a victim to 
over-work. His health w^as indeed so perfect as 
not to break, as in most cases would be the result 
of such intense application, and thus sound a 
warning. It is this over-worked class, as well as 
the invalid, who need to go to Florida. For the 



176 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

former, it is just the place in which to spend a 
winter : there is no doubt in our minds of the 
benefit they would derive by a few month's 
residence in that climate. Then there are the 
weak and nervous, — those whom care and anxiety 
have broken down, and who now need, above all 
things, a change of scene, and a quiet life av/ay 
from their former surroundings. With a new 
diet and a dozing climate, they will rapidly re- 
cover : these, therefore, need not hesitate to pack 
their trunks and start for Florida. We know of 
no place equal to it for persons thus afflicted: 
all improve under the influence of this warm and 
genial climate, where a comparatively even temper- 
ature is maintained, and where the rule is cool 
nights, in which sleep, the sweet restorer, comes 
with so many blessings to the fevered and fretful 
invalid, and the over-worked. No physician is so 
skillful, or remedy so marvelous in restorative pow- 
er, as sleep. This the resident of Florida may 
more easily obtain than in any other climate of 
which we have any knowledge. The winters are 
not so cold as to freeze during the night, or to 
necessitate artificial, over-heated air in the dwell- 
ings, rendered often quite impure by this furnace- 



THE EQUABILITY OF CLIMATE. 177 

system so general in tlie North during the cold 
season ; nor are the summers so sultry and heated 
as to deprive you of rest, as is the case in the 
severest hot weather in nearly every other portion 
of the country. The thermometer never settles 
as low, or rises as high, as at any point between 
this State and Canada. The lowest point reached 
in winter is seldom below thirty degrees, while in 
midsummer it rarely exceeds ninety-five degrees ; 
the average being, for the three summer months, 
about eighty degrees. In New York, Boston, 
or Montreal, every summer carries the thermom- 
eter to a greater height. The earliest frost 
recorded occurred on the 27th October, in 1857 ; 
and the latest frost was in February (the 14th), 
1859. Severe frosts usually occur in January, 
when ice is formed in pools of water or buckets, 
if left exposed. Since 1835, no very destructive 
periods of cold weather have been experienced ; 
then it was cold. People who were living in the 
State at that time speak of it as a severe cold 
snap, reminding them of Northern latitudes. The 
vines and shrubs and orange-trees, with many 
other kinds of trees, were quite annihilated ; and 
what are now seen have been either grown from 

12 



178 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

the seed, or are sprouts from the old stumps of 
the frost-killed trees. 

It is the severe and sudden changes in tempera- 
ture at the North that do the injury to enfeebled 
constitutions. One day in winter it is quite mild 
and pleasant ; while the next morning it is so 
dreadfully cold, that the going out of doors is a 
trial to the able-bodied, and a severe shock to 
those lacking in vitality. The spring is even 
worse than the winter ; for while the latter, 
though cold, has a dry atmosphere for the most 
part, the former is piercing, cold, and wet, and 
miserably coquetting, with all degrees of tempera- 
ture in a single day. Spring has in fact got to be, 
if, indeed, it has not always been considered in 
most of the Northern States, worse for all kinds of 
invalids than any other season of the year ; and 
where the east winds prevail at this season, the 
mortality list exceeds, for March, April, and May, 
that of all the balance of the year. An escape 
from these months to a more equable climate is, to 
the invalid afflicted with pulmonary difficulties, a 
vital one. 

A continuous, steady cold, dry climate, or an 
even warm one, is the most to be desired for a 



QUESTIONS TO BE SETTLED. 179 

majority of the suffering and afflicted of our race. 
Florida and Minnesota are the two points which 
most nearly represent these conditions. They 
have been frequently contrasted, and, like every 
other subject, each has its special advocates. We 
shall not even pretend to decide between them, 
for undoubtedly both are beneficial as a re- 
sort ; but to determine which of the two is the 
better adapted to benefit certain cases is beyond 
possibility, since they differ in many particulars : 
that is for the family physician to decide, who 
should know the constitution and habits of his 
patient, and wdiose counsel should always be 
weighed in all matters of this kind. Only gen- 
eral hints can be given, and each is to deter- 
mine for himself between the one and the other, 
or whether remaining quietly at home may not 
be best. When patients are so debilitated as 
to make traveling a trial and a burthen, they 
should remain at home, where their nearest 
friends may watch and tend them ; but in the 
incipient stages of tubercular formation, with a 
judicious change of residence and a nutritious 
diet, coupled with great care, the disease may be 
arrested, especially if resort is had to gentle exer- 



180 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

cise in tlie open air. Nortliern latitudes admit 
of exposure to the weather only during the sum- 
mer season, and herein lies the great advantage 
of a residence in Florida. We met at St. Augus- 
tine a lady from Syracuse, afflicted with pulmo- 
nary disease : we should judge it was constitu- 
tional in her case. She stated she had been 
unable to go out of doors during the cold and wet 
weather of the preceding winter, at her home, 
but had not failed to walk out daily (except it 
was raining) during the whole winter in Florida. 
She had at first, in coming into the State, spent 
several weeks on the St. John's E-iver, and then 
took up her residence at St. Augustine. This 
was undoubtedly a very judicious plan ; for the 
climate of the river differs materially from that of 
St. Augustine, on the seacoast. The former is 
milder and more gentle ; and the patient suffering 
with disease of the lungs would do well to remain 
on the river for a while, and then the climate of 
St. Augustine, with its sea-breeze acting as a mild 
tonic, braces up the system. 

The whole peninsula is in the range of the 
trade-winds, and is swept by them daily, ren- 
dering it as cool and pleasant as one could ask. 



WHEN TO GO. 181 

SuflPerers from nervous prostration and general 
debility need not delay their visit to St. Angus- 
tine for any reason above given, since tliey would 
probably experience as great benefit at the outset 
as at any subsequent period of their sojourn. 

People usually do not go to Florida before early 
in November, though they might leave home at an 
earlier date, making tarries on their way ; but, if 
they reach the State by that time, they will not 
have gone wrong. They can remain until the 
first of May, when it is safe to return to the 
Northern States. 

We speak in reference to invalids, of course. 
Pleasure-seekers, or those in health, may visit 
Florida, and the next week take a sleigh-ride 
among the hills of New England with impunity, 
perhaps. There are those from the North, both 
invalids and others, who make Florida their home 
the year round ; and they speak in the very highest 
praise of the climate during the summer, declaring 
they do not suffer with the heat as much as they 
formerly did at home, and that the benefit derived 
from a residence is increased by remaining. This 
may be true in some cases, whereas it might be too 
debilitating in others ; not from the great rise in 



182 A WINTEH IN FLORIDA. 

the thermometer, but from the long continuation of 
hot weather. It commences to be warm in April. 
We have seen the thermometer in the early por- 
tion of that month as high as eighty degrees in the 
shade at two, p.m. True, that was exceptionable ; 
but it was warm weather at mid-day through the 
half of that month ; and to continue this tempera- 
ture on to October makes a long season of sum- 
mer weather, which might be objectionable in 
some instances. 

There are those who assert the climate of 
Florida to be proved, from statistics, to stand at the 
lowest rates of mortality. From the census report 
of 1860, we find the average number of deaths 
from consumption, In various States, to be — 

One in 254 in Massachusetts. 

One in 473 in New York. 

One in 757 in Virginia. 

One in 1139 in Minnesota. 

One in 1447 in Florida. 

This table certainly speaks very highly in 
favor of the climate for this class of diseases. 
It is not impossible, however, that the returns 
may have been less perfect for Florida than those 
of other States, owing to the sparseness of popula- 



THERMOMETER RANGES. 



183 



tion and the inferior facilities for obtaining exact 
(lata. 

The following table of observations made at 
Jacksonville shows the highest and lowest range 
of the thermometer each month for five years from 
1857 to 1861, both inclusive : * — 



January. . 
February. 
March . . . 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August . . 
September 
October . . 
November 
December 



1857 



1858 



16 76 
44 77 



41 

47 
61 
73 

68 

75|94 
6486 
4285 

27179 
3978! 



1859 



76 30 
79 39 



1860 



92170 
84l50 
79:35 



1861 



79367232 7438 



Ice one to two inches 
thick, Jan. 19,20, 1857. 



At 7, A.M., Nov. 25, 
1860, the thermometer 
stood at 25°. 



There is a marked difference in the thermomet- 
ric range at Enterprise, two hundred miles south 
of Jacksonville ; not that it so much exceeds, if 
any, the above table, but that it does not reach as 
low a point, making the climate more even in tem- 
perature, and consequently more desirable. This, 

* This table is from the report by the Hon. J. S. Adams, the Cora- 
missioner of ImmigratioUj published in 1869. 



184 



A WINTEE IN FLOEIDA. 



even, is observed at Palatka, wliicli is also a more 
favorable place for these reasons. 

A comparative table, from the same source, 
showing the monthly and yearly mean for twenty 
years at St. Augustine, thirty-one years at West 
Point, and thirty-five years at Fort Snelling, is 
given, showing the equability of climate of the sev- 
eral localities : — 



Jan. Feb. Mar 



April. May. June 



St. Aufjustine, Fla. . 
West Point, N.Y. . . 
Port Snelling, Minn 



28.28128.80 
13.76 17.57 



37 . 63 
31.41 



48.70.59.82!6».41 
56.34 58.97|68.46 



July. Aug. 



Sept. 



Oct. 



Nov. 



St. Augustine, Fla.. 
West Point, N.Y. . . 
Fort Snelling, Minn 



80.90 80.56 78.60 
73.75|71.83|64.31 
73.40;70.05 58.86 



71.88 64.12 
53.04142. 23 
47.15.31.67 



Dec. Year. 



57.2669.61 
31.98 50.73 
16.89 46.54 



None need expect that every winter day in 
Florida will be like a selected day in May or 
September at the Nortli. There will be cool and 
cloudy days ; there will be occasional rainy days, 
though the winter months are usually very free 
from rain. The rainy season is in the summer; 
and of these months August is usually prolific in 
heavy falls of water. In most countries where 



THE WINTER EVENINGS. 185 

tliey have what is denominated the wet season, 
this occurs in the winter or spring months, leaving 
the summers, when vegetation needs rain most, 
very dry, and trying to tlie crops; whereas in 
Florida this is reversed, and in the hot weather 
the heaviest rains fall. 

The mild atmosphere of winter, which permits 
so much life in the open air ; the sea-breezes from 
the ocean on the one side and the gulf on the 
other ; the mode of livino; without air-tio;ht stoves 
and hot-air furnaces, but with ample ventilation 
in, around, and under their dwellings, which have 
no cellars, and usually stand on posts a couple of 
feet from the surface, — to these things may be 
ascribed the freedom from lung complaints, though 
the character of the soil itself greatly contributes 
to the absence of this disease, by its loose, sandy 
nature quickly absorbing moisture, and yet being- 
most of the time warm and comparatively dry. 

Visitors may expect to find the evenings and 
nights often damp and chilly in winter, and occa- 
sionally frosty. Our May and September have 
such nights ; and yet these months are thought to 
possess the most agreeable temperature in the 
North. Snow is not seen, nor ice, except as rari- 



186 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

ties. It is no unusual tliino;; to sit without a fire 
and with open doors in the winter ; and it is never 
absolutely uncomfortable to be out of doors, except 
in a storm or at night. Fires are, liowever, a 
great comfort most of the winter evenings and 
mornings, chiefly in removing the dampness, and 
taking off the cliill ; but an open door or window 
at the same time is not a discomfort. A good 
idea of a Florida winter may be best had, perhaps, 
by letting our months of September, November, 
and May, stand for their December, January, and 
February. 

Tliere is no doubt, notwithstanding the fine cli- 
mate, that people do die in Florida ! They have 
hitherto, and will continue to drop away there as 
elsewhere from some one of the many ills that all 
flesh is heir to. Fevers, malarious and bilious, and 
fevers with chills, are not infrequent, as they will 
always be in a country that is new, and heavily 
timbered, and filled with rivers and numerous 
lakes. Still, we believe that the ague prevails 
more in the Wabash Valley, and that fevers Avere 
as common in many other States, where now a good 
degree of health is maintained, in their early set- 
tlement, as at present in Florida. 



WHOM THE CLIMATE WILL BENEFIT. 187 

Of course, the climate is not a panacea for all 
ills. All pain will not vanish under its influence, 
nor will it act as a certain balm to those whose 
disease is deeply seated and far advanced. Allur- 
ing hope should not tempt such from the comforts 
of home, even for the placid skies of Italy. There 
is no question that many who are constitutionally 
predisposed to, and those who are in the first 
stages of, pulmonic troubles and kindred com- 
plaints, also those wanting in vitality, and the 
over-worked, and those suffering from nervous 
prostration, may reasonably hope for the most 
beneficial results ; but all should exercise the 
same care here as at home. As a rule, they 
should not expose themselves to the night air, nor 
be tempted on warm, bright days to lay aside 
ihick shoes and comfortable clothing. The invalid 
should always be clad in woolen clothing ; and the 
robust do not require a linen suit except in the 
summer months. Better suffer with the heat at 
mid-day than with a feeling of chilliness at sun- 
set. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE SOIL. 

First Impressions. — Varieties of Soil. — Cane, Cotton, and Corn. — ' 
Adaptability of the Soil for Early Vegetables. — The Culture of 
Rice, Coffee, and Tea, considered. — The Chinese. — A Prediction. 
— Good News to all Housekeepers. — A California Senator, — His 
Triangular Position. 

The soil of Florida differs very greatly from 
that of every other State with which we are fa- 
miliar. Its first appearance is that of a worthless 
character, miproductive and quite valueless ; but 
yet you are everywhere confronted with such 
stately, vigorous trees, and rank growths, that it 
seems quite paradoxical that out of the sand should 
come so giant a Flora. On closer inspection, we 
find the subsoil is often a mold, and, again, filled 
with broken marine shells and fragments of lime- 
rock ; and this has worked itself in with the fine 
sand, giving it its power to sustain such forests 
as abound everywhere along the river-courses. 
Over the whole State there are, of course, great 

188 



CHARACTER OF THE SOIL. 189 

varieties of soil. In the rich hummock and bot- 
tom lands, a black mold, with a mixture of the 
sand, is seen ; the dark, vegetable compound pre- 
dominating: and you have this soil shaded off 
till you come to the almost pure silica, or dry 
sand, where little else but the scrub-oak and black- 
jack flourish. The pine-forests, as we have before 
remarked, cover a majority of the surface in the 
northern and eastern half of the peninsula. These 
pine-lands are not so desirable for crops as the 
river-lands ; yet they, even, are valuable. The 
first-rate pine-land possesses considerable vege- 
table matter, and has a kind of marl or limestone 
substratum, that gives it an enduring fertility. 
This sort of land is, perhaps, to the early settler, 
the very best, since he may always find within the 
pine-woods a suitable and healthy location for a 
dwelling. This is not always true of the river- 
banks, where the hummock-lands are. Time, and 
the opening-up of the country, will render them 
quite habitable ; but, at present, chills and fevers 
have to be encountered unless the site is very high 
and airy. The settler may, however, by judicious 
purchase, procure on almost any portion of the St. 
John's River a fifty or a hundred acre tract, 



190 A WINTER IN FLOEIDA. 

which shall not only front on the river, embracing 
considerable of the rich river-land, but extend 
back into the pine-woods, where he may locate his 
dwelhng, and be tolerably free from the diseases 
which come from a home near the lowland and 
standing waters of the bays that indent the shores. 

Much of the second-class pine-land will grow 
nearly all kinds of vegetables ; and even cotton 
and the cane will flourish, this having a clay and 
marl foundation. Three hundred pounds of Sea- 
Island cotton have been taken from an acre ; and 
Cuba tobacco and all kinds of fruit may be culti- 
vated with success upon it. 

It is the bottom and river lands, however, that 
seem the most highly prized ; and this is not 
strange when their productive power is so great. 
The sugar-cane matures in this country only in 
Florida. True, it is grown in Louisiana and Texas 
extensively ; but it no where tassels out like our 
Northern corn, except in this peninsula ; and this 
is the sure sign of its maturity. The term 
" hummock " land — the Indian name for elevated 
tracts lying above the low or wet lands — is now 
applied to nearly all the hardwood lands in the 
State. It may be cultivated, year after year, 



MAEKET GARDENING. 191 

with the most exliaustiiig crops of tobacco or 
cane, without apparent diminution of its power. 
For gardening purposes it is unsurpassed ; and is, 
indeed, what the greenhouse man sifts and mixes 
in fine compost, for his dehcate plants and shrubs. 
The time is coming, when, with a semi-weekly 
line of steamers running direct from Jacksonville 
to New York, the markets of that city will be 
supplied w^ith early vegetables grown on the St. 
John's River. A few industrious Yankees have 
already initiated the enterprise of early gardening, 
and there is not a shadow of doubt as to the 
result. Green pease may be had in abundance by 
the 1st of April ; and fartlier up the river, new 
potatoes can be grown for market by that time. 
We know this to be possible ; for they were upon 
our table as early as that, as were also straw- 
berries and blackberries. The ordinary vegeta- 
bles can be raised to great profit for the Northern 
markets : pease, potatoes, melons of all kinds, 
string-beans, &c., mature rapidly and early, 
and with very little care beyond planting and a 
single hoeing. Of all crops, the melon grows the 
most spontaneous, and may be raised on the very 
poorest soil, as light and air contribute chiefly to 



192 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

tlieir growth. All these articles can be safely 
shipped, even with the present means of convey- 
ance to New York. Sweet potatoes are, of course, 
grown here, and they sell at an extremely low 
rate. In this article alone a handsome profit 
might be realized. By and by, when quick water 
communication is had, tomatoes, cucumbers, 
squashes, and other articles, may be sent to dis- 
tant markets : at present these products, embra- 
cing all we have named, except, perhaps, sweet 
potatoes, find a ready sale at Jacksonville, as the 
demand exceeds the supply. 

Under British occupation, tliere were extensive 
indigo plantations, this crop forming the chief 
article of export ; and even now^ it maj^ be seen 
growing in its wild state, having become natural- 
ized and indigenous. Coffee and rice, especially 
the latter, could easily be made profitable ; and 
their culture will some day employ, doubtless, 
many hundred pairs of hands. 

The experiment of raising the article of tea in 
this country has been attempted and abandoned : 
but never tried in Florida. We are quite san- 
guine it can be grown there. The northern 
half of the State lies in the same parallels of 



THE COMING MAN ! 193 

latitude with tlie noted tea-districts of Cliina ; and 
the soil is thought to be much of the same char- 
acter as that on which the choice teas are grown 
in that countrj. Of course it must be at first, 
from the very nature of the case, an experiment, 
as the culture of any new product, even if seem- 
ingly adapted to the locality, is pretty likely 
to be ; yet, with Chinamen to dress and tend 
the plant, its successful culture may be considered 
assured. Nor is this an impossible dream ; for, 
while penning these lines, the telegraph flashes 
the arrival in the harbor of San Francisco of one 
of the Pacific mail-steamships with twelve hun- 
dred Chinamen as passengers. And this whole- 
sale immigration is being constantly repeated. 
They are now numerous on the Pacific coast ; and 
we venture to predict that a million of China- 
men will reach our shores within the next decade. 
They are industrious and frugal beyond all knowl- 
edge of our people ; and they will yet solve the 
problem of obedient, honest, and respectful labor 
at a cheap rate, both in doors and out. Where 
now the Green Isle, with its ever-green sons 
and daughters, hold high and triumphant carnival 
let us hope these patient and faithful people 

13 



194 ' A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

may be found instead. It is a matter for pro- 
found regret, that, on tlie Pacific coast, these 
"" Children of the Sun " are so universally misused, 
if not often brutally treated by the resident popu- 
lation. That one of California's senators, him- 
self the son of a foreigner, whose father, under 
the laws of the United States, was, after a brief 
residence, admitted to all the rights of citizenship, 
should publicly denounce these peaceful and law- 
abiding people as a common nuisance, when their 
only crime is that of working faithfully, and for 
one-half the wao;es of an io-norant Irishman, is 
too preposterous for credence ; yet the fact seems 
indubitable. Shame on this imioble " Roman." 




CHAPTER XIV. 

FRUITS. 

The Orange. — Its Cultivation. — Tlie Several Varieties. — A Roasted 
"Bitter-Sweet." — The Wild Orange a Native of Florida. — The 
Frost of 1835. — The Orange a Prolific Bearer. — Peculiarities of 
the Orange. — Scarcity of Orange -Groves. — Where the largest 
may be seen. — The Lemon and Lime. — The Grape indigenous. 
— The Scuppernong. — Florida as a Wine-growing Country. — 
Peach-Culture. — Figs and Pomegranates flourish. 

The most important of all fruits in Florida is 
the 

ORANGE. 

There are four varieties to he found in the State. 
Tln-ee of them — the sour orange, the bitter 
orange, which is very bitter, and the bitter-sweet 
orange — are found growing wild, in irregular 
groves, along the principal rivers and streams, 
though in greatest numbers near the center of the 
peninsula, up the Ocklawaha River. There, 
thousands of the wild trees grow ; and, in their 
bearing season, it is a beautiful sight to wander 

195 



19G A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

through these natural groves laden with such 
beautiful globes of gold, peeping on all sides from 
the bright green foliage, bending low the branches 
with their weio;ht, and exhaling; an aroma at once 
delicious and powerful. The fruit clings with a 
good deal of tenacity for a long time after it has 
ripened ; but during the winter and early spring 
it mostly falls, though you may see the new 
blossoms and the young oranges while the ripe 
fruit still remains. No other large fruit-bearing 
tree does this, to our knowledge ; and it is a rare 
sight, worth a journey, to be able to stand within 
a wild orchard of these beautiful trees, and feel 
the drovv'sing influence of fruit and flowers. 

The " sour " variety is too sour for any sort 
of good purpose; and the " bitter" is too outrage- 
ous for any use save to remind you of the " Dead- 
Sea fruit" whose taste is never forgotten by even 
those of not usually very tenacious recollections. 
The " bitter-sweet " are not put to a very great 
use at present, and may never be ; yet the Indians, 
and some of the native people, use them in the 
manufacture of a pleasant beverage, quite like our 
lemonade, and full as palatable perhaps. Barrels 
of the juice of this orange could be had for the 



THE WILD ORANGE. 197 

labor of procuring and pressing them. Whether 
it might be made into a lemon sirup, and thus 
become an article of commerce, we do not know ; 
but we see no reasonitshould not, except that our 
inventive Yankees, or others, have substituted in 
late years a sirup from chemical combinations, 
which finds a ready market ; and, since the public 
seem never over nice in small matters, they un- 
hesitatingly gulp it down in quantities sufficient, 
with other drugs, to in time poison, if it were only 
taken pure, the Avhole population. 

A very delicious thing is a roasted "bitter- 
sweet." They have to be treated with care, lest 
the oil in the thick rind should get mixed with the 
juice. If it is ever the fortune of any reader to 
camp near this variety of the orange, let us sug- 
gest that they try roasting one as an experiment. 
Cut a circular piece of the rind from the top of the 
orange, push carefully down a portion of the pulp 
to admit the introduction of sugar, then replace 
the cap of rind, and fasten with several wooden 
plugs, not penetrating beyond the rind ; then roll 
it in paper, leaves, or moss, — any thing to keep it 
clean, — and bury in the earth under the fire. In 
due time, when it is thought the inside has 



198 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

thoroughly assimilated, carefully withdraw the 
fruit, and remove the lid ; when, armed with a 
spoon, you have a nectar such as no caterer ever 
dreamed. 

It is generally thought the orange is not a native 
of this country, but must have been brought to 
Florida by the early Spanish colonists. This is 
the accepted theory, but not a known fact. It is 
our opinion, that the orange is indigenous to the 
soil ; and our reasons are, that it flourishes and 
seems as hardy and natural to the soil and climate 
as the magnolia, the live oak, or the palm and 
date. The great frost of 1835 killed nearly every 
tree on the peninsula ; and yet there is. to-day, as 
good authority asserts, a milHon of acres of the 
best lands of the State covered by the wild 
orano-e.* Ao-ain, the cultivated fruit, the sweet 
variety, excels the fruit of any other country, both 
m size and sweetness. This is the general testi- 
mony of competent judges, and Ave unqualifiedly 
concur, especially when vre remember those 
oTown in what is known as the Indian-river 
country. These seldom reach any of the Northern 

* Dr. D. n. Jacques, in the October number of" The Horticulturist " 
for 1868, gives this statement. 



THE ORANGE INDIGENOUS. 199 

markets, the home consumption being sufficient to 
require them all. The orange is a native of Asia 
and the East Indies, and also, we shall add, of 
Florida. It was not grown in Europe till about 
the fifteenth century ; and it is scarcely likely the 
Spaniards introduced it, since they cultivated it 
very indifferently up to the sixteenth century, and 
Florida was discovered by them in 1512. The 
fact that some of the early Spaniards left no ac- 
count of this fruit argues httle, since they gave 
very little account of any thing they either saw 
or undertook, beyond general expressions. The 
first elaborate sketches of Florida were given by 
the Bartrams, father and son, about a hundred 
years ago ; and these writers mention. seeing 
everywhere in the forests, as the traveler may now 
who seeks the interior and central section, groves 
of the wild orange, with the fruit so abundant as to 
actually cumber the ground. The evidence all 
tends to the one conclusion, so far as we have ex- 
amined the subject ; and that is, as before stated, 
that the orano-e is indio:enous to the soil in Florida. 
Next to the Florida is the Havana orange, a 
large and handsome fruit of a bright color, with a 
rich and juicy pulp, and A^ery free from seeds. 



200 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

The Maltese orange is also a favorite, and is 
thought the sweetest of all varieties. Its red 
pulp has been considered objectionable ; but now 
this is less thought of, and already by many it is 
preferred.* Then there is the Mandarin, a fine 
ncAV orange, grown in China, which is peculiar in 
consequence of the looseness of the rind which 
scarce adheres to tlie pulp. This is likely to be- 
come a favorite. 

The orange is the lono;est-lived fruit-tree knov/n 
to US. It is reputed to have attained the age of 
three hundred years, and known to flourish and 
bear fruit for more than a hundred years. No 
fruit-tree will sustain itself and produce fruit so 
well under neo-lect and rou£!;h treatment. It comes 
into bearing about the third year from the budding, 
and by the fifth year produces an abundant crop, 
though the yield is gradually increased by age and 
favorable circumstances. The early growth of the 
orange is rapid ; and by its tenth year it has grown 
more than it wdll in the next fifty, so far as breadth 
and height are concerned : but it is age that mul- 
tiplies its fruit-stems ; and we arc informed, on fliir 

* The red color of the pulp is said to have oomc fr 5m grafting the 
orange on the pomegianate. 



THE YIELD OF THE OEANGE, 201 

autliority, that ten thousand oranges have been 
produced by a single tree. A correspondent, m 
" The Horticulturist " of last year, states that 
eio'ht thousand were p-atliered in one season from a 
tree in St. Auo;ustine.* We know these fio;ures 

CD O 

vv^ill be thought liigh; and they are far beyond the 
common experience ; yet they show what may be 
done. The yield of the present groves in the 
State, which we observed, would not, however, 
average over two thousand to a tree ; and they 
were from ten to fifteen years old. These groves 
have not, as yet, attained maturity ; and, in time, 
the average will run above this figure. They can 
be marketed readily at twenty-five dollars per 
thousand : this would give an income of fifty dollars 
from each tree, or to an acre of rising a hundred 
trees, five thousand dollars. The labor of one 
man is quite sufficient to tend the largest grove in 
Florida, except at the time of gathering, when two 
are required. 

The usual method of propagating the orange is 
quite like that of the peach ; and one wdio under- 
stands the latter, need have no fear of mastering 
the other. Indeed, it is an easier thing to grow 

* Sec October number of " Ilorticulturist " for llGS. 



202 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

the orange in Florida tlian the j^each in New Jer- 
sey ; and that is saying considerable in favor of the 
orange. It is almost sure to live in the trans- 
planting, and is in every way a very easy tree to 
manage. It has but one enemy in the insect line ; 
and latterly that has not done the slightest dam- 
age, and never has the power to destroy the tree, 
as the '' borer " has the peach. Then the tree 
itself is free from disease ; and we all know the 
peach is subject to the " yellows," which, during 
the last fifteen years, has nearly driven it from 
every homestead in New England. Still another 
2;reat consideration in favor of the orano;e over most 
fruit-trees is the tenacity v/ith which the fruit 
clings to the tree after it is fully ripe. Ten days 
is about the usual time for the peach-tree to hold 
its fruit after commencing to ripen : though varie- 
ties differ, we might say the limit was not over 
twenty days ; and all know how a thunder-gust 
will, when they are ripe, despoil the tree of its 
fruit. They have to be marketed rapidly, or they 
are lost from decay; whereas the orange will, 
when fully ripe, remain fresh and sound upon 
the tree for several months, while the winds and 
storms but gradually shake them off ; and when 



THE ORANGE A STEADY BEARER. 203 

they are tlius shaken or gathered regularly, they 
may be kept for many weeks, though, of course, 
they slowly deteriorate in size, and lose some- 
thino- in iuiciness and fine flavor. 

The orange is not only a prolific, but is likewise 
a steady bearer. It puts forth blossoms during 
the last half of winter and the first half of spring, 
by Avhich time the flowering is mainly over : this 
is itself unusual, and pecuhar to this tree. The 
peach, cherry, plum, quince, pear, and apple 
bloom promptly and fully, not holding in flower 
over ten days, and their fruit progressing in growth 
uniformly; while the orange may hold in Feb- 
ruary, blossoms, the green fruit, and the matured. 
These advantages, in connection wnth its longev- 
ity, make it the most profitable and least expen- 
sive fruit grown in America. 

The ground needs only to be cleared of timber 
and under-brush to start an orchard of these trees ; 
though, of course, if thoroughly prepared and 
cultivated, it is only so much the better. The 
wild-orange tree is used for budding or grafting in 
the establishing of an orchard or grove. They can 
be had in any number ; and there are parties wdio 
are in the habit of procuring them for customers, 



204 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

while others, owning extensive tracts where natu- 
ral groves abound, supply the market in very much 
the same manner as the nursery-men North do, 
and for the present at veiy reasonable prices, — 
the usual charge being fifty cents per tree. They 
vary in size from one to four inches ; though a 
greater percentage of the larger ones die, and are 
not consequently so desirable. If, however, the 
tree is in the spring taken up with ordinary care 
and seasonably transplanted, ninety per cent will 
live, and become well established the first season. 
They should be set in rows, about twenty feet 
apart each way ; though the most of the groves we 
saw were standing nearer. This would give 
something over a hundred trees to the acre, and 
in time the whole surface would be covered by 
the branches. Meanwhile the space between can 
be used for the growing of vegetables, with actual 
benefit to the trees. 

All trees for transplanting should be cut off to 
within five feet of the ground, all the main limbs 
being lopped off, leaving little else beside the 
stump, and perhaps one or two of the smaller 
branches. 

Those who have groves of the wild orange, in 



THE PEOPAGATION OF THE OEANGE. 205 

locations to suit, do not disturb such as tliey wish 
to remain, but take up all others, and with them 
fill m here and there to perfect the rows ; and with 
the surplus either extend their orchard, or dis- 
pose to such as may desire. The usual plan is to 
bud the sweet orano-e on the stock of the wild^ 
orange, at any time after the tree, having been 
transplanted, puts forth strong shoots, showing a 
renewal of the flow of sap. This is usually done 
durino; the summer ; but buddincr is attended with 
success whenever the sap is flowing upward, and 
this is the case most of the year. The bud is 
placed in the arms, or trunk, or the shoot when 
old enough. If grafting is preferred, you have 
only to follow the usual custom ; that is, when 
strong shoots have started, cut off the tops of the 
arms or trunk, and insert the grafts, leaving a 
shoot, if convenient, to assist the flow of sap up- 
ward, covering the surface cut with any suitable 
material, that the air and rain be kept out. The 
best plan, if grafting is not resorted to, is, we 
think, to bud the shoots after they have had ten 
or twelve weeks start, breaking off, early, all shoots 
not designed for budding. 

The practice of raising trees from the seed is 



206 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

receiving attention ; and, where parties can wait, 
this is the more desirable plan, still, a mncli 
longer time is required to come to bearing. The 
seed of the wild orange may be planted, though 
the sweet-orange seed is the best. Both requiie 
budding, which, of course, is the only proper way 
of treating young stock ; yet it will be found that 
the latter will produce a superior fruit. 

The sweet variety may be grafted or budded 
upon the stock of the lemon not only without 
deterioration, but it is claimed by some to be im- 
proved both in size and quality. It is used when- 
ever it can be obtained, the same as the wild 
orange. It is asserted that the lemon is a 
much shorter lived tree than the orange ; but of 
this we could not say. 

The common impression of those who have 
never been to Florida is, that this beautiful fruit- 
tree may be everywhere seen and that they 
literally abound. This notion would vanish 
were they to visit the State. It is only in the 
older settlements that you see groves of the sweet 
orange. It is true, single trees, or a half-dozen 
trees, are not unfrequent in numerous localities ; but 
we have never seen over a half-dozen that 



THE LEMON AND LIME. 207 

were worthy of the name of grove or orchard. 
One at Mandarin, three in St. Augustine, two in 
and near Palatka, and one, the finest in Eastern 
Florida, about tliirty miles south of New Smyrna, 
near Indian River.* Western Florida has, in the 
aggregate, a great many orange-trees ; but we are 
not familiar with any groves there, excepting one 
at Fort Myers and another at Sarasota Bay. 

The tree itself is of handsome form, seldom 
over twenty feet in height, and near twelve feet 
across the branches or top, which is conical in 
form and not unlike the well-trained dwarf pear- 
tree in general outline, though growing much 
larger than they do. 

The drj^er hummock-lands suit the orange best ; 
yet it does well in every soil in the State with 
which we are acquainted, excepting the scrub- 
oak land, and even on that it will produce fruit. 



The lemon, lime, and citron, all members of the 
same family with the orange, attain perfection, 
and are quite as easily grown as the orange itself. 
They will be found growing wild in Central and 
Eastern Florida, and may be cultivated with 

* LikewiFe one at Enterprifie. 



208 A WINTER IN FLOEIDA. 

profit. Indeed, -whatever has been said of the 
orange, as to soil and its capabiKties, is nearly 
equally applicable to these ; and, beyond this 
simple mention, we shall therefore not dwell upon 
them. 

Wild grapes of several grades are found in the 
swamps, and along the rivers and streams, through 
all the State. They are indigenous to the soil : 
and it is quite probable that the Spanish people 
brought with them their cultivated varieties ; and 
these growing wild, and mingling with the natives, 
have produced kinds varying from every other, — 
some being quite desirable, and all producing a 
fair wine-making fruit. Bartram speaks in their 
praise, in his time ; and he was undoubtedly a 
connoisseur in all m^atters of that sort. The 

SCUPPERNONG GRAPE, 

quite famous for its fine wine, may be raised in 
great perfection and profusion in almost any 
portion of East Florida. Even the pine lands of 
poorest quality suit it ; and more wine can be 
made from an acre of this land than from any 
two acres of the ordinary wine-growing country 
in Europe. The highest yield in Europe is not 



GRAPE CULTURE — THE SCUPPERNONG. 209 

over five hundred gallons to the acre : whereas, 
in this State, over fifteen hundred gallons is a 
common yield. When these facts become fully 
known, it must excite the grape-growing popula- 
tion of worn-out France and Italy to try their 
fortunes in our more favored land. 

The Scuppernong is one of the hardiest varieties 
grown ; is free from the rot, the premature falling 
of fruit, and is here, quite out of the range of 
frost. The heat being uniform, and not so great 
even as it is subjected to in higher latitudes, the 
fruit matures fully; being a never-failing bearer, 
and grandly luxuriant in its growth and develop- 
ment. A vine once planted, and well-estab- 
lished, will take care of itself, requiring no 
pruning or attention beyond giving it an arbor 
large enough to spread itself upon : with this it is 
content. This grape is not grown north of 
Virginia with success, though it may be cultivated 
in that State ; but it increases in size and in fine- 
ness of flavor as you go southward. A gentleman 
in South Carolina, near the center of the State, 
has several acres of this grape, and his wine 
finds a ready market. The banks of the St. 
John's, we predict, will, in time, be as famous 

14 



210 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

for its yineyards and ^Yine as arc those of 
the Rhme in Europe. There is no sort of 
necessity for America importing the miserable 
adulterations that she is now doing, and sending 
her gold across the ocean by the milhons in 
exchange, when, within her own boundaries, 
she is faA^ored beyond all lands in soil and climate 
adapted to the production of superior wine, and 
in such quantities as not only to supply the home 
demand, but have a surplus for exportation. 

PEACHES 

are another crop that can be raised with great suc- 
cess. They ripen in June, and the different vari- 
eties carry the bearing season into October. At 
present, not much attention is given them ; and 
that is not so extraordinary either, since few thmo;s 
have received much attention in Florida for the 
past hundred years : and, all the older marks of 
civilization having ceased to be, the elements have 
almost as clear a title now as on the morning of 
creation. 

Peaches will bring as high a price in the mar- 
kets as oranofes : and thouo-h not so lon2;-livcd or 

& o o 

as hardy a tree, yet it will bring quicker returns 



THE PEACH AND FIG. 211 

to the settler ; and tlieir cultivation is so easy a 
matter that they can not, in due time, fail to com- 
mand the attention of the shrewd and enterprising. 
Perhaps the great trouble in this State is, that, as 
remarked before, it is ^' so easy a matter "to do 
this or that in husbandry, that most things go un- 
done, and little stimulus is given labor where its 
necessity is not absolute. 

Figs grow freely, as also the pomegranate and 
the guava. Our Northern markets are now 
wholly supplied by importations. The latter arti- 
cle, prepared in a jelly, finds a ready sale every- 
where, and is delicious. 

Cuba has heretofore furnished us this fruit, but 
Florida is even better adapted to it than any of 
the West-India Islands. It is only that it is a 
new-sounding and strange fruit which will likely 
prevent its extensive introduction at present. By 
and by, we may hope for a wider and a more 
profitable horticulture, not only on the peninsula, 
but in all of the more Southern States. 






CHAPTER XV. 

HINTS TO IMMIGRANTS. THE SOCIAL CONDITION. 

Value of Lands. — The Florida Laud Company. — The Fernaudina 
and Cedar Keyes Railroad. — Liducements to Settlers. — What 
Immigrants should do. — Cost of clearing Lands. — Colonies along 
the St. John's. — Negro Labor. — The Reason of Idleness. — The 
Poor Basket-maker-. — His Trials, Sufferings, and Fears. — The 
Social Condition of the South. — An Un-reconstructed Carolinian. 
— Spirit of the People. — Their Necessities and Prospects. 

Were the lands of Florida ten feet higher than 
they now are, its future would be great. No State 
could then equal it in capacity to maintain a dense 
population. As it is, ditching and draining will 
have to be extensively resorted to. Three crops 
can be taken from the same land in a single year 
by a judicious system of rotation. 

Many inquiries are made as to the price of lands. 
The State owns a large portion of the wild lands, 
and the price, we believe, is fifty cents per acre. 
At an auction of several thousand acres of unim- 
proved lands, held at Jacksonville in April of this 

212 



THE FLORIDA LAND COMPANY. 213 

year, the prices ranged from twenty-iive cents to 
fifty dollars. Lands fronting on the St. John's 
River between Jacksonville and Palatka, unim- 
proved, can be had from five to fifteen dollars, 
while improved lands — farms — are held at from 
twenty to thirty dollars. Of these there are, how- 
ever, but very few, — scarce a dozen, all told, from 
one end of the river to the other. Again, wher- 
ever there is an orange-grove, the price is enhanced 
very greatly ; but of these there will not be found 
a half-dozen, in bearing, along the whole river. 

There is an association known as the Florida 
Land Company, with an ofiice in New- York, who 
own several hundred thousand acres lying along 
the line of the Florida Railroad. They are 
perhaps better prepared to give titles, and offer a 
wider choice in location and quality of lands, than 
any other parties. To actual settlers they offer 
very great inducements, charging little, if any thing, 
in order that the local trade and travel may be in- 
creased along the line of their railway, seeking by 
this method to obtain remuneration. Their policy 
is dictated in wisdom, and at the same time is of the 
utmost advantage to the settler, and especially to 
those with limited means. Their lands are adapted 



214 A WINTER IN i^LOEIDA. 

to tlie growth of the long-staple cotton, so valua- 
ble in all markets. Sugar-cane and coffee likewise 
flourish, as also the orange and olive on these lands. 

Their line of railway extends from Fernandina 
on the Atlantic in a south-westerly direction to 
Cedar Keyes on the Gulf coast, affording unusual 
facilities for shipping or receiving any article of 
commerce, since lines of steamers already make 
prompt and frequent connection at either end of 
the road with all parts of the country. It is an 
important road to Florida, but scarcely less so to 
the Union, since, by any means should we lose the 
''Key" to the Gulf, this line of railway would 
afford a quick and sure means of communication 
to all of the Gulf States. 

The true way for immigrants seeking a home in 
Florida is to combine, and send out an accent to in- 
vestigate and report. Any purchase should be 
made with a view to the establishment of a colom^. 
In this way they will be able to render to each 
other great assistance, and can at the same time 
make their investment in lands to better advantao;e 
then if each was to buy or locate on a small tract 
independently. They, as a body, could do many 
things impossible for the individual. 



TROUBLESOME INSECTS. 215 

The cost of clearing lands varies from five to 
thirty dollars per acre, depending upon the kind 
of lands and manner of clearing. The cheapest 
is that of clearing the pine lands ; and the man- 
ner of doing it consists in simply girdling the trees 
and cutting away the under-brush : the following 
year there remains nothing but the trunks and dry 
limbs, which offer no impediment to tlie rays of 
the sun sufficient to hinder the growth of any 
crop. The more expensive clearing is the hum- 
mock-lands, where the Avhole has to be cut down 
and burnt, and many of the smaller roots re- 
moved. 

Every company of settlers, who can, should 
provide themselves with material for a tent. This 
would give them shelter while preparing their new 
homes, and be both desirable and inexpensive. Liv- 
ing in warm climates is, of course, attended with 
some disadvantages ; but the dread of reptiles and 
poisonous insects is not well-founded as to Florida, 
however true it may be of countries in lower lati- 
tudes. Excepting a single harmless water-snake, 
we saw no reptiles. 

JMusquitoes, in the season for them, and in their 
favorite haunts, abound, as they do in many local- 



216 A WINTER IX FLORIDA. 

ities at the Kortb. The greatest pest, however, 
is the flea. Some they do not annoy, others 
escape them entirely ; but this was not our for- 
tune. Their abundance is pjlrtially explained 
when we remember Josh Billings's assertion, that 
a careful estimate gives a total of but sixteen 
deaths per annum, and these from accident ! We 
unhesitatingly indorse this statement. Think of 
thirty millions of people, with industrious habits, 
being able to overtake only that number ! Be- 
yond stating that the flea crop of Florida was a 
full average one the season of our travels, -we 
shall dismiss the matter. It isn't a pleasant one 
to dwell on. Yery pious people should travel in 
some other country. 

We have, in a previous chapter, adverted to the 
settlement of several Northern colonies alono; tlie 
St. John's, and particularly to that at Palatka, the 
pioneer and leading spirits of which are, we .be- 
lieve, Mr. H. O. Woodruff and the Hev. P. P. 
Bishop, both formerly active and influential gen- 
tlemen of Auburn, N.Y. By way of indicating 
the interest in, and travel to, the State of Florida, 
as manifested within the last few years, we may 
mention the fact, that over thirty ladies and gen- 
tlemen, from the place above mentioned, sat doAvn 



THE NEGKO — HIS TRIALS. 217 

at dinner together in Palatka, one day last 
spring. 

Negro labor seems abundant, yet we under- 
stand there is difficulty in securing it. But there 
are reasons why this is so. They dislike, as a 
rule, to do any labor for their old masters, since 
that would seem to them very much like the old 
system which they now have such a horror of. 
Again, we suspect the chief reason why the negro 
is loth to labor is the imcertainty of his wages. 
The Southern country, immediately after the war, 
was utterly destitute in ever^^ thing, especially of 
money, and finding they received nothing but 
promises, the negroes naturally became idle. A 
couple of crops of cotton has put in circulation 
among these States considerable currency ; but 
this was not true of Florida, since her crops have 
been small, and little of any thing for exportation. 
Hence the colored people have been compelled to 
Sfive their time to buildino; homes for themselves 
wherever they were permitted to purchase lands 
and live in quiet. We say " permitted ; " for 
that more nearly expresses the case than any other 
term. It seems almost a resolution among th© 



218 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

whites not to dispose of any land to the colored 
people, however much they may be anxious to sell. 
They are put off with promises ; and, in case of 
sale, they are charged two prices. It is the one 
thing dear to the late slave population, a home. 
They seem very anxious to secure to their families a 
resting-place, where they shall be free from moles- 
tation. We met an aged negro, living on Black 
Creek, a basket-maker, who was working in the 
shade of a bay-tree, close beside a rude cabin, the 
temporary home of himself and family. Ap- 
proaching, we entered into conversation, and 
learned, from quivering lips, his history and pres- 
ent circumstances. His story was a touching one. 
He had toiled for his master half a century, in the 
broiling sun and chilling winds ; the war had left 
him a free man : but he was now aged and infirm, 
and the fruit of his long life of toil was beyond his 
reach. He had rented this log-cabin, without 
floor or chimney, and gathered into it his family, 
and was struo-alinp; to secure a home of his own. 
He had commenced life anew, and at a time when 
most of us end ours. He longed to purchase one 
of God's acres, where he could build his castle, 
and read his title clear, He did not mind paying 



AN AFFECTING STORY. 219 

Shylock his price, if the acre could be had. Tears 
filled the old man's eyes, and his arms grew nerve- 
less, as he repeated his doubts and fears. His 
family had gathered round, and the wife, an intelli- 
gent, thoughtful woman, with eyes fastened intently 
on the ground, trying, as it were, to solve the mys- 
teries of Providence, in human affairs. Look- 
ing out and around us, upon the worn-out and un- 
improved lands, stretching miles on either side, 
with scarce a human hand to tend them, yet here 
was this worthy, industrious, hard-working, and 
native citizen, half denied the right, in his new 
condition, to a home among those who recently 
periled life that he should not go away ! 

This is but one of many cases coming to our 
knowledge. 

There are no people on the globe so kind 
hearted, and so cheerful under wrongs and afflic- 
tion, abiding in the faith of an inscrutable Provi- 
dence, which, if not understood, is believed to 
work all things for good, and no people so deserv- 
ing of considerate and generous treatment from 
those who were their late masters, as are the 
negroes of the South. 

The social condition of Florida is much like 



220 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

that of other Southern States. The war has 
broken up not only famiUes, but neighborhoods, 
and even States ; and what is left is but a wreck 
of former and. more prosperous days. The great 
questions of State rights and slavery have been 
settled adversely to the South, and there is no 
appeal from the decision rendered. Of this fact 
they seem duly conscious ; and having thrown 
every thing into the contest, and lost, they now 
find themselves destitute, with no time and less 
inclination to enter into discussions of what are 
nothino; but dead issues. 

At the close of the war, they were not long in 
taking account of stock, or of coming to the true 
solution of their situation. Minus friends, capital, 
and labor, they wisely concluded to accept the 
situation, and we believe have done so in good 
faith, and resolved to put behind them their false 
leaders, together with their principles, which so 
led them into the red sea of difficulty. In our 
travels from New York to and through Florida 
and home again, we met Avith but a single 
Southerner who offensively obtruded his pohtics 
into our notice, and who still held that the North 
was the aggressor. This party we met in South 



THE SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE. 221 

Carolina, and he was of the same " chivabous " 
type as might have been encountered at any cross- 
road in South Carohna before the war. What 
ditch he could have been hid in when Sherman 
passed that way is beyond comprehension. 

The spirit of the people, taken as a whole, is 
most excellent, and much better than they have 
the credit for. There need be, we believe, no 
apprehension of molestation on this score. All 
seem intent on getting a living. It would, how- 
ever, be nothing strange, even with a people 
disposed to let by-gones be by-gones, if here 
and there were found uncontrollable characters. 

Much time must necessarily elapse, under 
favorable circumstances, before all classes, so 
recently antagonistic, and whose relations have 
been so abruptly and greatly changed, can quietly 
assimilate, and, out of the chaos of State and 
National legislation, with the newly-acquired 
rights and circumscribed privileges of the two 
races, settle down together in perfect peace and 
harmony. It would seem marvelous to see a 
privileged class, a compact people with absolute 
authority, shorn in a day, as it were, of all power 
and reduced politically to a common level with 



222 A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 

their late slaves, and not expect a ripple of rebel- 
lion. And yet this marvelous sight is seen in the 
South. The late elections in the Southern States, 
and especially in Virginia, attest these facts. 

So far from there being any animosity toward 
the immigrant, the people of the South, on the 
other hand, seem to welcome every new-comer ; 
and in Florida there is a bureau established to 
supervise and induce an influx of people from any 
and every quarter. This is their only resource 
to build up the State ; and in time, with wise 
legislation, this can be done. A period of pros- 
perity must then dawn on that portion of our 
country, such as hitherto they have never seen 
and little dreamed of. 




GREAT SOUTHERN 

FREIGHT & PASSENGER ROUTE 



^^lA. 



SAVANNAH, GA, 

FOR 
AND AI.I. POINTS IN THE SOUTH AND SOUTH-WEST. 



One of the following First-Class Steamships will sail every other day 
as follows, — punctually at 3 o'clock, p.m. : — 

EVERY TUESDAY, 

From Pier 16, E.R., foot of Wall Street y 
TJEtO «fe VIHOO, of Mvirray's Eine. 

Murray, Ferris, & Co., Agents, 61 and 62 South Street. 

EVERY THURSDAY, 

From Pier 36 f H.E., 
HERMAN EIVINGSTON & GEN. BARNES, of Atlantic 
Coast M.S.S. Eine. 

Livingston, Fox, & Co., Agents, 88 Liberty Street. 

EVERY SATURDAY, 

From Pier 8, JST.R., 
SAN SALVADOR & SAN JACINTO, of Empire Eine. 

W. R. Garrison, Agent, 5 Bowling Green. 

Making close connections at Savannah with the Central R.R. of Georgia 
trains twice a day for all points in the South and South-west, and with 
the Atlantic and Gulf R.R. trains twice a day for all points in Florida; 
also with steamers Nic King and Lizzie Baker, for points on St. John's 
River. 



On and after this date, the Rates of Passage between 
New "York and the following places will be as fol- 
lows : — 

Sa^aniiali. $30 

AND VIA CENTRAt. R.R. TO 



Augusta $23.00 

Macon 37.00 

Atlanta 37.50 

Columbus 35.00 

Albany 35.00 



Eufaula $35.00 

Montaromeiy 37.00 

Mobile 45.00 

New Oi-leans 48.00 



A^D VLV ATLANTIC AND GULF R.R. TO 

Jacksonville $35.75 ] Enterprise $33. 7L 

Hibernia 38.75 Lake €ity 30.35 



Quincy 35.75 

Monticello 33.00 

Tallahassee 34.35 



Green-Cove Springs. . . . 38. 7 i; 

Picolata 38.75 

Orange Mills 38.75 

Palatka 38.75) 

IncludiBg meals and first-class state-rooms ou steamships. 

Passengers for St. Augustine purchase tickets to Picolata, thence by 
stage four hours. 

On comparison, this will be found to be the cheapest as well as the 
most delightful route to the points above named ; the above prices to 
many points being forty or fifty per cent less than the All-Rail Route; 
the time made being nearly as short, with the addition of a table fur- 
nished with all the luxuries of the season, without additional expense. 

Trains leave Savannah morning and evening. Sleeping-cars on all 
night trains. 

Through Rates of Freight given, and through Bills of Lading signed to 
all points. 

For \irther particulars, freight or passage, apply to 

MURRAY, FERRIS, & CO., 

61 and 62 South Street. 

lilVINGSTON, FOX, & CO., 

88 Liberty Street. 



New York, Sept. 15, 1859. 



W. R. GARRISON, 

6 Bowling Green. 



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Movement Cure, Machine Vibrations, 

the varied and extensive resources of the WATER CURE, LIETIZSTG- 
CURE, MAGiTETISM, Healthful Food, a Pleasant Home, &c. Par- 
ticular attention is given to the treatment of all forms of CHROISTIC 
DISEASE, especially of Rheumatism, Gout, Dyspepsia, Constipation, 
Torpidity of the Liver, Weak Lungs and Incipient Consumption, Pa- 
ralysis, Poor Circulation, General Debility, Curvature of the Spine, 
Scrofula, Diseases of the Skin, Uterine Weaknesses and Displacements, 
gpermatorrhcea, &c. Any one wishing fui'ther information, should send 
FOR A CiRCULAK, containing further particulars, terms, &c., which will 
be sent free by return mail. 

BOARDING DEPARTMENT. 

We are open at all hours of the day and night for the reception of 
boarders and patients. Our location is convenient of access from the 
Railroad depots and Steamboat landings, and to the business part of the 
city. Street cars pass near the doors to all parts of the city, making it a 
very convenient stopping-place for persons visiting the city upon busi- 
ness or pleasure. Our table is supplied with the Best Kinds of Food, 

IlEALTIIFtELY PREPARED, AND PeENTY OF IT. lu these respCCtS it is 

unequalled. Come and see, and learn how to live healthfully at home. 
Terms reasonable. 

Drs. 7700D & HOLBEOOK, Proprietors, 



